What happens 'after' you've won the war?
by jade-fae
Summary: This years challenge fic, Hogwarts did nothing to prepare Harry to survive after graduation. Now he must do just that while trying to figure out what he want's to do with his future, ya know, now that he can actually have one. Daily updates from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

…

Greetings people's of the internet, its Halloween which means November is right around the corner. For those just tuning in, November is a month where young writers are challenged to write their novels a chapter a day. For fan fic writers, those of us up to the challenge, we try to post one chapter of a story every day from the 1st to the 30th.

I've done this for the past two years and I am proud to announce I am doing it again this year.

This year's subject started with a few stray fic's or ficlets I read this summer set after the battle of Hogwarts but before the epilogue, likely ignoring it entirely, they hadn't gotten that far. My first chapter is largely inspired by these, the rest is just the strange machinations of a very warped brain… mine.

So the big question stands, **What happens 'after' you've won the war?**

Tune in and find out the answer, ought to be good for a giggle or two.

…

Jade-fae


	2. 01 I don't know

01 I don't know

There are some things any celebrity or politician knows never to say to a member of the media, confessions of guilt for starters, any sort of unpopular truth, and most of all any sort of admission that they don't 'have' an answer. I don't know, three words never to be said, likely one of the first things anyone living in the public eye learns, unless of course their name happens to be Harry Potter.

"Nother bunch incoming" hollered Ron through a mouth full of food.

Harry merely groaned at his ever growing mountain of letters. Five days, that's what it had been, five days since he'd opened his mouth and inserted his foot. Ever since his defeat of Voldemort he had been at Hogwarts, helping to repair the school and generally not having the slightest idea of what to do next. He could easily admit they'd barely had a plan for getting to where they got, forget what came after.

If he was completely honest with himself he didn't expect to have an after, and yet.

"Good morning all, I…" Hermione started as she finally joined them only to see Harry half buried in unopened mail, "well now this is just getting ridiculous."

Harry would have agreed but he was currently covered in parchment and didn't figure his voice would carry through it all.

"Yah" agreed Ron, a spoon full of porridge hovering over his mouth, "who knew ya get in so much trouble tellin the truth" and in went the porridge.

"I think the better question is, when has telling the truth not gotten me into trouble" groused Harry, finally digging his was out of his mail as it all went crashing to the floor.

"Well you've certainly got your work cut out for you" said Hermione sitting down and pulling a bit of fruit onto her plate.

"You think I should burn them all outside or try and pitch'em into one of the fire places?" Harry wondered aloud.

"What? You can't burn them, people took a lot of time to write these to you" exclaimed Hermione.

"I don't recall asking them to" Harry shot back sourly, "never should have given that interview in the first place."

"Oh honestly Harry, you couldn't avoid it forever" insisted Hermione most reasonably.

'Wanna bet' he wanted to say, but didn't. It had been at Hermione and McGonagall's insistence that he had met with the aging reporter, a man clearly past his prime and barely interested in the questions he was asking. Though maybe that had all been an act, at least with Skeeter he would have known to not let his guard down, to never say anything without careful consideration. With Skeeter he never would have even considered saying what he said when the tired old man asked his last question.

"What do you plan to do now?"

"I don't know" he had said like a fool.

And like a fool he had been surprised the next morning to see the story written in the paper. Like a fool he had thought nothing of it despite past experience and like a fool he had been surprised when the letters started coming. By day five however he was no longer surprised.

"You need to read all these Harry, I mean it" Hermione scolded as she organized those nearest her, "starting with this one."

Harry cast a baleful look at the very official looking missive. Ministry which likely meant Kingsley which likely meant a long follow up discussion to the one they'd had the last time he'd seen the tall black man. It seemed Kingsley, like most everyone that had decided to send him mail that day, had come to the conclusion that if he didn't know what to do with his life, they would help him, whether he liked it or not.

After having people lead him around by the nose for so long he was quite ready to start making his own decisions. No if only he'd stop making stupid ones like telling the truth to reporters.

…

Diagon Alley had certainly seen better days. The first time Harry had ever set foot in the enchanted alley it had been a magical place, so far removed from the mundane world as to have been a different planet, now it looked like the philistines had been through followed by the Vikings and just for the hell of it every soccer hooligan in Britain.

Harry sighed. He'd been doing that a lot. The alley was an odd reflection of how he currently felt, desolate and empty, emotionally and physically ransacked, a shadow of what had once been. Still, it was better than Hogwarts, and far better than Grimmauld Place. Not that Grimmauld Place had ever been much to look at but given that it belonged to him now, well, it was hard not to think about it.

In fact, he was having a very had time not thinking about a lot of things, most of which involved his future. Under Hermione's 'helpful' direction he had made his way through but a small amount of his mail, putting aside those that were in any way enspelled which had actually shrunk the pile considerably, and plowing through what was left.

The day before he'd been wondering what there even was to do as a career, now he had more choices than he knew what to do with. Dozens of letters had offered to sell him their business, offered apprenticeships in everything from glass blowing to dragon wrangling. And of course there had been more than a few who simply wanted to use him to endorse their products, all of those he had accidentally destroyed maliciously.

His future was wide open, all he had to do was grasp it and yet, there he was, afraid to even reach out his hand.

"Some lion I turn out to be" he mumbled to himself as he turned down into Knockturn Alley.

Like Diagon, Knockturn had lost something as well. It hardly felt like the shadowy frightful place he'd first fallen into as a boy. Just as Diagon had lost its luster, Knockturn had lost its mystery. Was it just his growing up, he wondered, or a byproduct of everything he'd been through, everything he'd survived? His mind wandered while his feet did the same, there was so much trying to occupy his attention he almost missed the flowerpot.

*CRASH*

With well-honed reflexes he narrowly managed to dodge the falling crockery and its accompanying shrubbery. Ignoring his now dead attacker his attention is drawn to the commotion above. A portly man hangs from the window attempting to jump out of it by the looks of things and being held back by several shadowed figures.

"Help!" He cries. It's only then that Harry realizes who he is looking at.

"Fudge" he says aloud without thinking.

This draws the former ministers attention, "Potter, Potter help me!" he begs even as he is hauled back inside.

Conflicted, his decision is made for him when spells start raining down on him from the open window. His shield is up before the first is within five feet even as he moves to find cover. Unable to see his attackers or their captive he is hesitant to return fire lest he hit something or someone who doesn't deserve it.

There are several cracks and the hail of spell fire ceases, their gone.

"Well" he says to himself, "what the bloody hell was that about?"

…

"So let's take it from the top, one more time."

Harry tried not to groan at the imbecile in front of him but it was a losing battle. Apparently removing all the dark lord sympathizers from what remained of the Auror corps had left them with nothing but the incompetents. He had just finished telling the simpleton calling himself an auror everything he'd seen, heard, and done, for the fifth time, and he wanted it all again. It was a good thing he just slew dark lords and not simply people who got on his bad side, though come to think of it that would be almost everyone he knew at one point or another.

"It's really very important for us to have all the details if we're going to solve this crime Mr. Potter."

"And I gave you all the details… five times" he tried not to grind his teeth, it really wouldn't help anything after all.

"I'll take it from here auror" said a familiar commanding voice.

"Uh Minister Shacklebolt" the idiot stuttered, stumbling over a thick patch of air, "what brings you down here sir?"

"The Ministry can't afford any lay abouts right now, we all need to fill in where we can till things are back to normal" said the tall imposing black man before casually waving the auror off.

"Nice timing Kingsley, you probably just saved that idiots life" snarked Harry.

"Now you see what I have to work with" said the Minister, easily taking the snark in stride.

Harry groaned, "Let's not have this discussion again, please?"

Kingsley smiled but let it go, turning his attention to more pressing matters, "So what happened here?"

"I wish I knew" Harry admitted, "There I was walking down the street, minding my own business when I almost get beaned by that pot" he said pointing to the nearly offending crockery, "I look up and see some fat bloke hanging out the window. On closer inspection I realize who it is."

"Cornelius Fudge" supplied Kingsley.

"The very same" agreed Harry, "he spots me and much to my surprise starts begging me for help. Of course that's when the others up there, the ones keeping him from falling out the window realize someone's down here and start tossing spells."

"Anything severe?"

"No unforgivable's and nothing my shield didn't soak up, so I take cover and look for a chance to fire back. Course I can't, the rooms dark and I can't make out whose who or even how many are in there and before I get a chance to come up with anything they take off and I'm left standing there wondering what the bloody hell just happened" he finished.

Kingsley looked conflicted for a moment and seemed to choose his words very carefully when he asked, "Given who we know was involved please don't be offended when I ask, did you really do everything you could here? Everything?"

Harry on the other hand was having none of it, "why don't you ask me what you really want to ask" he scowled, "did I help them make off with that idiot Fudge?"

"Did you?" the minister countered.

"No" he shot back without a second thought.

He nodded, "I believe you, though it would certainly make the investigation a lot easier if you had."

"Think he'll be hard to track down?" Harry asked, not really interested.

"If it were only just him…" he let it hang.

And Harry, like a sucker, took the bait, "someone else I don't like up and disappear recently?"

"Does the name Dolores Umbridge ring any bells?"

Harry gave an uncharacteristically wicked smirk, "couldn't have happened to a nicer 'person'".

"And I suppose it's just a coincidence that the two people who tried to have your wand snapped have been mysteriously abducted."

"Yep."

Now it was Kingsley's turn to scowl.

"Well what do you want from me here, and just for the record, I hold the torture and murder attempts against them more than their failure to have my wand snapped. Besides, you can't tell me after everything that happened last year I'm the only person who might want a piece of their hides."

"Anyone particular spring to mind?"

"You mean besides 'every' muggleborn who managed to survive the war" he said with a sardonic look.

"I was afraid you'd say something like that" the big man said, rubbing a hand across a suddenly tired looking face.

"It's not just those two, is it" it was a statement, not a question.

"Counting Fudge the total is up to six. All wealthy purebloods with political connections to the last government just up and disappeared, leaving their families, and more importantly their gold, behind."

"Abducted?" Harry queried.

"Fudge is the first one we have confirmation of but given the nature of the disappearances it seems likely."

"You don't think the death eaters…" he left the statement hanging.

Kingsley shook his head, "No, two of them were related to the death eaters and all of them supported the cause one way or another. This is something else, like reverse death eaters."

"Killing purebloods instead of muggleborns" confirmed Harry shaking his head, "you'd think people would have had enough killing for a while."

"It may just be some angry muggleborns getting back at the purebloods" Kingsley offered, "these could all be completely unrelated. But then again, what if they're not?"

"Then it's going to start all over again" said Harry without an ounce of doubt.

"Then we need to make sure that doesn't happen."

Harry groaned at the use of 'we', "Kingsley I don't want to…"

"I'm not asking you to join the auror's Harry" the big man cut him off.

Surprised the young man asked, "Then what do you expect me to do?"

"Go places the aurors can't. Talk to people that won't talk to the aurors. I know you hate to hear it but you are more famous now than Dumbledore ever was and that opens a lot of doors."

"Also gets you a lot of unsolicited mail" he groused.

"That actually may work to your advantage."

Harry groaned yet again, he didn't like where this was going, no sir not one bit.


	3. 02 First profession

02 First profession

Managing the green house

…

In the rather cold and bleak islands called Great Britain, there are few places where the word sweltering could be applied without being facetious. One such place, and the only one in 'magical' Britain, is greenhouse 6 of Marv's magical plants and flora. The aforementioned 'Marv', eighth of his name, is the current owner of the only greenhouses in magical Britain outside of Hogwarts to provide various enchanted and enchanting flora from around the world.

At one time Marv's greenhouses supplied plants for the homes and gardens of the majority of wealthy purebloods who, being your typical aristocrats, were more interested in appearing cultured than in actually being cultured and found it far easier and safer to buy exotic plants from someone local as opposed to traveling out of their precious and perfect country to look for a native branch. As such being the only greenhouse available to fill the demand they were able to charge whatever they wanted and for all intents and purposes became one of the wealthy elites they had started out servicing.

At least that was the case for Marv the third. By number eight the blossom had basically fallen off the stem so to speak.

…

"Watch yur left there lad, e's trying ta drive ya inta that tree there."

Harry danced around the flailing roots and vines being very careful to avoid the aforementioned tree and the viscous sap that covered it.

"From South America, locals use the sap in draughts and soups to help ease sore muscles, on its own however it burns skin like a mildly powerful acid" he recalled the information his 'employer' had imparted to him several days earlier.

"Very good" said the old man as he sat and watched the younger man dance about the grabby plant.

"So what ya use this one for?" Harry queried, using the three foot cane he was holding to smack away a grasping vine before stomping on a root that was trying to snare his foot.

"Mostly for dealing with unmotivated apprentices" he said with a grin.

"Well, I'm not an apprentice" Harry shot back after a quick duck and jump.

"Try tellin im that" the old man laughed.

For all the good that would do Harry thought but didn't waste his breath to say as the giant plant lashed out again, forcing him to twist and turn while striking with the cane those that impeded his forward progress. That was actually what he was doing, trying to get close to the massive closed flower.

Three steps, a pivot turn and a quick skip over a trip vine and he was in range.

*WHACK*

The flower burst open and an almost tongue like protrusion shout out. The protrusion was covered in little amber balls that almost appeared to glow now that they were revealed.

"Well done, now for the easy part" the old man said, tossing a large jar to younger one.

"So what do I do with this?" asked Harry who snatched the jar out of the air with ease.

"Ya wanna run yur hand across the surface a that pistil to get the seeds off, then put'em in the jar."

Looking at the plant and the rather toothy looking 'petals' he none the less did as bade and in short order had the whole thing stripped bare of seeds. The plant seeming to realize this recoiled its pistil and slammed shut once more, going completely still afterwards.

"Good job lad, haven't seen someone manage that well gainst Beatrice in years."

"Ah, she wasn't so bad" said Harry handing him the jar.

"Haha, I suppose after a dark lord you would think that" the old man countered.

Harry simply shrugged the comment off, "so what do you do with these anyway?"

The old man plucked a seed from the jar, gave a quick once over, then plopped it into his mouth. The seed gave a satisfying crunch as he bit into the hardened shell.

"That's it?" said Harry appalled.

"Their pretty good if ya cook em too."

Harry stared at his employer then groaned, running a hand across his face, "you are an evil, evil man."

The old man's response was to laugh in his face.

…

"That one?"

"The leaves are used in burn curatives."

"And this one?"

"Chop up the roots and add water and you have half of an itch curing salve."

"And those fruiting bodies on the tree there."

"Dried and ground into powder their used in six common poisons… also in fancy soups."

The old man chuckled, "good, good, you've picked up on this faster than I could have hoped, wish I had a dozen more just like ya."

Harry tried not to blush at the praise, it was something the old man was quick to give and something he had been largely without most of his life so it was really, really hard.

"Now, how bout this one?"

Harry turned his attention to the indicated plant and almost stepped back, "Looks like a tangled mess of barbwire" he thought aloud.

"Probly where the muggles got the idea" he said, "long before the muggles ever invented barbwire, wizards were usin this nasty round the borders of their properties to keep people and big animals out."

"What else is it good for?" there had to be something, there always was as he had come to learn.

"The thorns secrete a sap that has certain numbing properties. A little bit won't do much but in large enough doses well, there's a reason you'll be needing these" he said holding up a small clipper and tweezers.

"Lovely" said Harry, his tone contrary to his word choice.

Taking the offered tools and the small jar he carefully approached the nasty looking vine, noting several spots around the patch the looked to have been dug up as well as several that had small stumps.

"Cut back on the patch recently" he noted as he went to work.

"Member what I said bout how wizards us this?"

"Yeah" said Harry absently, beginning the long laborious process of harvesting thorns from a very thorny plant.

"Well, couple weeks ago this fella come ta me wantin to buy some Numbthorn, thas what it's called by the way, odd fella, muggle born I think though I could be wrong."

"What makes you think that?"

"Jus a hunch, Ee didn't come through the usual channels though could be the usual channels aren't there no more what with the dark lord runnin round raping n' murderin an all" the old man shook his head as though to clear it before going on, "anyway, Ee says to me ee's just got himself a house an can't afford much in the way a wards so ee figures ee plant some Numbthorn maybe make folks think twice."

"Does it grow very fast?" Harry asked.

"It can, with the right soil it can grow pretty fast. Actually have to be careful with the soil here to keep it from goin crazy."

"Did he say where this house was?"

"Ya know I don't think ee did an, well now this is just rather embarassin to admit but I can't rightly remember is name either come ta think of it."

"It doesn't help he didn't bother to write it down either" a new, female voice interjected.

"Oy now don't be pickin on yur poor uncle like that" the old man protested.

"Someone has to… Good morning Harry."

"Good morning Abigail" said Harry with a distracted smile, before promptly pricking himself on a thorn.

"Ya know, if you wasn't such a pretty thing you wouldn't have nothin ta recommend ya."

"Oh is that so?"

Feeling his tongue numb a bit from sticking his finger in his mouth he decided to do the smart thing and focus on the task before him. He'd seen these two argue before like this and there was never any real heat to it, he wasn't concerned. What did concern him however was this mystery buyer, and while it certainly wasn't a crime to buy a nasty plant to fortify your property, the circumstances did seem a bit suspicious.

It might be nothing, an old man's faulty memory, but given what he knew of the man that just didn't sync. It could be nothing, or it could be his first real clue. Too bad he had no idea what to do with it yet.

*Sigh*


	4. 03 Second Profession

03 Second Profession

…

Flying, it was by and far the best thing in the world according to Harry Potter. He hadn't really like Quidditch all that much, he'd only played because it allowed him the chance to fly, and also crash but that certainly hadn't been planned.

It was however without a broom that flight got really exciting. Though he'd never admit it to Ron who would probably call him a heretic, or Hermione who would have blushed Weasley red, riding Buckbeak at the end of his third year was by far one of the most exhilarating experiences of his life, no small part of that being the very attractive young woman clutching him for dear life during the whole thing, that being why he'd never tell Hermione.

Given this it wasn't a surprise, once he'd weeded through more of the unsolicited suggestion letters, that he would make contact with a man who bred Hippogriffs.

…

"Morning Harry!"

Harry looked up from his brushing and smiled, "Good morning Wren" Harry replied.

"I swear, you've gotta be up before the birds" she joked.

"Lazy birds, buncha layabouts living off the doll" he cracked doing a not unconvincing impression of his uncle.

Wren didn't know his uncle but she laughed anyway which left him feeling very warm despite the chill in the air.

"So, planning a bit of a fly this afternoon?" she queried 'innocently'.

"Looks like I've been found out" he said.

"You know, I think you'd have been happier if you were born with feathers" she ribbed.

"Well I'm still not convinced you aren't hiding a pair of wings beneath that jumper" he shot back standing just across the hippogriff from her.

"Why Harry Potter, are you implying that I am an angel?" she asked, leaning across the back of the hippogriff.

"Maybe I am" said Harry, leaning in closer as well.

"Be careful" she warned with a sultry smile, "you may be the savior of the wizarding world but that does not mean my Da thinks your good enough for 'his' little angel" she said, coyly rubbing her nose against his.

"You just like to make it hard don't you?"

"Is it?"

Seeing he'd lost the exchange, "I won't even dignify that with an answer" he said.

The lovely young woman simply laughed at his retreating back. He had yet to win one of these exchanges with Wren in the month he'd been there but one day… maybe.

…

"WOOOOOHOOOOO!"

There really was nothing better than flying. The sheer exhilaration of soaring through the air like an arrow, or twisting and turning, climbing and diving and sailing through the skies, there simply was nothing better.

Little Beak, his mount of the day, seemed to share in his enthusiasm as well as his daredevil reckless streak rising and plunging and spiraling like a crazy top, it was awesome. There was a rapport between man and beast, the line between them vague almost indistinguishable. For Harry it was the closest to being a real flying creature he had ever felt.

Eventually though even the most avid flyers must tire and so they headed back making a slow circuit over the farm before preparing to land. As they came in to land they saw a well-dressed man leaving the house in a bit of a huff. He didn't even make it all the way to the end of the driveway before apparating away.

"Now what was that all about" he wondered aloud as they touched down.

Little Beak made a few squawking sounds that expressed his own befuddlement but before either could put much thought into it the master of the farm stomped out of the house. He didn't even seem to notice Harry and headed straight for the store house where they kept the various bits and pieces of their animals that could be sold while they waited to do so.

Wren emerged a few moments later, her face a mask of concern, she did notice Harry.

"Wren" he called.

She plastered on a weak fake smile as he approached, "Hey, Harry, have a nice flight?"

It was a pitiful dodge, "what's going on?"

"It's nothing, nothing, really" she said, refusing to look him in the face.

"Ya know, if you're going to lie to me you could at least put a little effort into it, I think I'm worth a little effort."

She snorted but couldn't hide a grin.

"Ah, gotcha to smile" he crowed, very proud of himself.

She openly chuckled at that, "you're such a ham Harry."

"I prefer bacon, mmmm, bacon."

Well that proved too much and she broke into hysterical laughter. Harry was quick to notice the tears that appeared as well and was ready then when she came down the stairs and latched onto him for dear life.

"Don't ever change Harry, please?" her tone was pleading, almost begging.

Having developed some understanding of the strange creature known as 'female', Harry wrapped his arms around the clearly upset girl and held her. She seemed to take this as a hint to burrow in deeper where she'd be safe, so Harry just held her and let her cry.

"What happened?" he finally asked when she appeared to have calmed down.

She sniffled a little, pulled her face out of his chest but made no further move away, "you saw that man that was just here?"

Harry nodded.

"He's been here before I think, it's weird but I just can't remember his face."

'Sounds familiar', Harry thought, "what'd he want?"

"Components, feathers and talons mostly."

"So what's the problem?" Harry asked confused.

"We'd practically have to empty the Store shed to get all he wants, and what he offered for it, well, insulting is putting it mildly" she said, starting to get heated.

"So your dad said no" said Harry, gently stroking her hair in an effort to calm her.

She nodded, "he didn't take it too well, made some not too subtle threats then sort of leered at me" she shivered at this, "I've had more than a few men undress me with their eyes but that one, just made my skin crawl."

Seeing her discomfort Harry pulled her back to him, she made no resistance.

"Harry, I'm scared" she confessed in a whisper.

"I'll protect you" he said without hesitation.

"That so" drawled someone else.

Harry froze, he knew that voice. Wren just snickered at his reaction.

"Hello daddy."

"Oh there you are Wren, didn't see you hiding in there" he joked.

To Harry's horror she snuggled in further, "I like it, all warm and cuddly."

"Well why don't we let Mr. Warm and Cuddly take his winged friend back to his pen" the large frightening father said.

"Oh alright" she acquiesced, then, to Harry's further horror, gave a quick kiss on the cheek before returning to the house, leaving the men alone.

Harry slowly turned to face his executioner who simply gave him an expectant look.

"I make no excuses" he said.

"Good" the older man replied, "I'd have lost all respect for you if you had."

"She was upset."

He nodded at this, "can't say I wasn't a bit upset myself to be honest."

"What did he want, really? He can't have seriously thought you'd just let him steal from you."

"He wouldn't be the first" he admitted with some shame, "that wasn't even why I wouldn't sell to him though."

"Then why."

"There's something about him, not rightly sure what it was but something in my gut told me this bloke is trouble" he said after some consideration, "I like to listen to my gut, hasn't steered me wrong yet."

Harry nodded in understanding, though having a slightly less exemplary track record when doing the same, "so that's the end of it then."

"Maybe" he said, "I've dealt with smarmy bastards like this before but this one. I don't know why but he just put me on edge." He shook his head as though to clear the feeling from his head, "well at any rate, if I never see the stupid bastard again it'll be too soon."

And with that he led the Hippogriff toward the pens, leaving Harry where he stood, head buzzing with questions and not an answer in sight.


	5. 04 Fifth Profession

04 Fifth profession

…

He slices, he dices, he makes Julien fries. He's the incredible chopping Harry. Buy yours today.

Harry lifted the board he'd been cutting on and slid what he'd been working on into the large bubbling cauldron next to him. It was much larger than what he had worked on at Hogwarts where they worked in single dose sizes. Here the cauldron was large enough for ten, and wasn't the only one he was working on either.

As the concoction turned a modest blue he floated over to another much larger cauldron currently bubbling a bright cheery yellow. Taking a jar off the shelf next to it he took three small seeds dropped them into a stone bowl before taking a pestle to them and grinding them into a fine powder before adding it to the potion which after a little stirring turned a pale lime green.

"Don't you ever sleep?"

Harry grinned as his newest employer trudged into the work room, "sleep, what's that" he quipped.

"You know, it's that thing you do with a bed" the elderly man said with a yawn.

"Are there girls involved? I think I've heard of that" Harry shot back even as he stirred the cauldron.

"Ugh, I'm much too old for that sort of bedding" he complained.

Harry just chuckled. Alexander, the owner of the Apothecary he now worked at, was not a morning person.

"So what are we working on in the wee hours of the morning?"

"Well, the small one's that rheumatism elixir for Audrey."

"Good, good, she'll be needing that soon."

"And the big one was just the first of those three big orders I found tacked to the wall this morning, when did those come in anyway?"

"There not orders actually" he said briefly examining the small cauldron before giving it an approving nod, "oddest thing really, must've been an hour after you left two young men came in and bought out all we had of those three."

"The numbing potion, elixir of stamina…" Harry listed.

"And the draught of strength" the old man finished, now hovering over said concoction as it began to change from green to a fine gold.

"What'd they want with all that?" Harry asked as prepared to decant the potion.

"I was rather curious about that myself but when I asked they rather rudely told me to mind my own bloody business."

"Well, positively pleasant weren't they" snarked Harry.

"Really, young people these days, no respect at all" the old man complained.

"I blame bad parenting" offered Harry as he steadily began filling vials with the golden draught.

"Yes well, still have to wonder" he said.

"Well, what do you think they're going to do, you do after all know all about these potions?"

"I actually thought about that too" he said quietly.

"And?" encouraged Harry when the old man seemed to mentally wander off.

"What do you know about Alchemy?"

"I think I could spell it, but that's about it" replied Harry.

"Little surprise, it's not the sort of thing you learn in school."

'Doesn't stop it from getting into school though', thought Harry.

"Alchemy, is an interesting merger of disciplines the purpose of which is to improve upon what can be done by one by using another, you see?"

"Like my hand in a London fog" said Harry.

"Hmm, let's see… ah, take those three potions for instance" he began to lecture, "now imagine you could combine them into a brand new potion, one that was even better, but in order to do it you'd need to use a sort of ritual with special runes, maybe at a certain faze of the moon and with a long drawn out incantation for wrap it all up, that's basically alchemy."

"So you think that's what they're doing?"

He shrugged, "Maybe. Alchemy is a complex sort of magic, very finicky. It's why there you hardly ever hear of them anymore, Dumbledore was the last one I knew of."

Harry just nodded, stifling for the moment his feelings for the so called 'great man', "not much point in worrying about it I suppose."

"Mmm, you're probably right… ah well, life goes on" he said instantly forgetting about the whole thing, "you going to be alright back here on your own."

Harry nodded, "I wanna try and finish up early though, I have a date tonight."

"Ah to be young and eligible again" the Apothecarian lamented.

Harry merely grinned at the old brewers antics.

…

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting."

She turned and smiled, and the room itself seemed a little bit brighter he thought.

"Harry" she greeted warmly.

"Abby" he greeted in return.

"I was starting to think you'd forgotten" she chided gently.

"Sorry, work took a bit longer than I wanted and I didn't want to meet you reeking of frog guts and lizard bits."

"I appreciate you thoughtfulness" she tittered.

…

"Harry, can I say something" she asked later that night after they'd eaten.

"Of course."

"I'm really glad you agreed to come. I miss seeing you every day."

"Abby…"

"I know, you never meant for it to be permanent but still…"

"Abby, I get that you like me and I like you to…"

"Then why?"

"It wasn't about you, I just, I don't know I mean, honestly, for a long time I never expected to live this long and now, here I am and, I just don't know what to do now."

"I can help" she offered, taking his hands in hers.

They were warm he thought, warm and soft, the sort of hands he could get used to holding, and it killed him a little inside.

"Abby, you are a wonderful woman, the kind any man would die to have, so, as your friend, please, don't settle for me."

He could see she was conflicted, so was he, but what could he do. How could he tell her once he'd slain the dark lord something else had popped up and once he took care of that something else would undoubtedly follow? How could he expect any woman to stay with him knowing one night he may just never come home? It wasn't fair, not to her, not to him, if just wasn't fair.

He'd keep an eye on her all the same. Just because he couldn't be with her didn't mean he didn't care.


	6. 05 Wrapping things up

05 Wrapping things up?

…

Stealth was not something Harry had ever had all that much practice with, at least not to any level of success. Strange how that seemed to have changed he mused as he crept past the Numbthorn without making a sound and took out the first sentry with little more than a muffled breath. Carefully laying the now dead man under the thorny bramble he edged toward the house.

There were no wards, his 'informant' had been sure of that much but seeing what he'd done with the Numbthorn he had little doubt the house was protected. A special spell placed on his glasses gave him cat like night vision, vision far superior to the second sentry who tumbled lifelessly forward in mid step. He never even had time to realize he was dead.

He picked his way carefully to the house, avoiding unusual patches of grass and stepping lightly over near invisible tripwires till he came to the back entrance. The door led straight into the kitchen, the hinges, surprisingly well-oiled, made not a sound as he opened and closed the door. The kitchen was dark lit only by moonlight and the dim glow from the next room where he could hear the sound of men laughing and the faint shuffling of cards.

Stepping silently across the floor he carefully peered through the shutters. There were four men each with cards in hand, two were smoking cigars while shot glasses littered the table with a half drunken bottle of something sitting at the very center. He watched the men for a moment before his attention was drawn to something else, a fifth chair, a vacant chair.

"Ah bloody ell that felt goo…"

The two men looked at each other and shared a single thought, 'Aw shit.'

…

"And so I tells him, I tells im…"

*BANG**CRASH**CLANG*

"Oy Mark, quit stumblin round in the dark an turn a light on."

The four men laughed heartily till the aforementioned Mark came flying into the room.

Before any of them could break from their stupor a vial came flying into the room as well, flipping carelessly end over end in a lazy arc. One of them, coming to his senses, picked up his wand and threw a spell at the intruding container.

The spell struck and the room was suddenly filled with more light than it had ever seen. The four men stumbled out of their chairs, blindly staggering about, unable to make out a thing except white. They yelled and hollered to each other trying to make sense of it all, not realizing the flash had faded and there was a new man walking among them.

He made no sound, four silent stunners and it was over.

"Well, that could have gone worse" Harry mused aloud as he surveyed the chaos he had wrought.

A few quick strokes of the wand and all five were bound in thick ropes and stuck to the floor just for good measure.

"And that leaves…" the boss.

He ghosted up the stairs till he arrived at the only door with light shining beneath it. Sure the person had heard the ruckus downstairs he was prepared for a fight. Carefully he grasped the doorknob, steeled his nerves and with a turn and shove threw the door open. Then he stopped.

At the far side of the not very big room sat what appeared to be a middle aged man, casually leaned back in a chair with his feet up on a desk smoking a pipe. He made no indication that he had heard the door slammed open and after a moment Harry understood why. On the floor was a coil of rope which encircled the man.

He could just make out the faintest glow from the rope and realized it was being used to denote the boundaries of a barrier, the poor man's wards. Undoubtedly this one was meant to keep out sound. To test his theory Harry conjured a small rock and threw it at the man's feet. This he reacted to, trying to spin around only to fall right out of his chair and his circle of silence.

"What the, who the bloody hell are you" he demanded gruffly, though given his position it had little effect.

"Now that's new" Harry chuckled mirthlessly, "I thought everyone knew who I was."

The stared hard for a moment before a light seemed to come on, his attitude changed ever so subtly.

"What do you want?" he asked as he picked himself up from the floor.

"You to surrender" Harry replied, "I've already dealt with your men downstairs they won't be of any help to you."

"Tch, worthless" he muttered, "I often wonder why I bother. They love the work but I don't think any of them really care about the cause, not like I do."

"Since when is terror and kidnapping considered a cause?"

"You don't understand, those things they were necessary, I didn't want to do them but I had to" he insisted passionately.

"You had to terrorize good people, why? I'll admit I couldn't have cared less about all those people that disappeared at first…"

"See, even you admit no one will really miss them. Their leeches, an infection, an anchor to keep us down. Even without the dark lord trying to murder us wholesale they spent years choking us out of society. They're a disease, them and every other one like them."

"You know I'll bet they say the same thing about you" Harry shot back.

"Well they're wrong" he shouted slamming his fist on the desk.

Harry shook his head, "You're just the same. If it was you in power you'd be doing the same thing to them. It doesn't become right just because it's not being done to you."

The man seemed to deflate at this, "I'd hoped you could understand. He understood, I hoped you could too."

"He who?" Harry asked suspiciously.

"Hmph, doesn't matter" he answered grumpily, picking up a vial from his desk, "since you won't see reason, I suppose there's nothing left to be said."

With that said he tipped the vial back in a single go. Harry watched with a sense of anxiety as the man's skin began to color, followed by what looked like steam. The golden glow in his eyes was what indicated, to Harry at least, that he should have just stunned him when he entered the room.

"Now boy" he hissed menacingly, "let me show you what real ingenuity can do, let me show you what those pathetic stale bloods could never dream of doing."

Harry had but one thought as a wand appeared in his opponent's hand that seemed to sum things up quite nicely.

'Aw shit.'

…

"Aw will ya look at that!"

"There's another piece over here!"

"I think I'm gonna be sick, ohhh, I am… bleaghhhh."

The Minister of magic shook his head as his 'aurors' mucked about the wreckage of what had once been a house. What a mess.

Casting a discreet eye toward the tree line he spoke to briefly to the head auror, "If you'll excuse me, I need to step away for a moment."

"Of course sir" the little toady responded dutifully to the Ministers back.

The tall dark man strode quickly into the shadows of the wood where he found his agent waiting.

"Overdid it a little" he decided to open with.

"I wish I could take credit for it but it was mostly the other guy."

"So what happened?"

Harry gave a brief summary of the operation and an even briefer summary of the battle that leveled the house.

"You should have stunned him and been done with it" the Minister criticized.

"Tell me something I don't know."

"Don't get over confident Potter, it'll get you killed."

"Not likely. I solved your case, he's done so I'm done" and he had every intention of walking away.

"It's not that simple Harry."

"Sure looks like it to me."

"You asked me to tell you something you don't know" the minister said and a chill ran down the young Potters spine, "we found the missing people."

"So happy endings all around" he sniped.

"They're dead."

'Dammit', "so they killed them then?"

"Not this bunch, evidence shows at least twenty people were at the sight not counting the missing people. Most of it was destroyed but from what was left it looks like some sort of ritual."

"So there are more of them?"

"Maybe" conceded the minister, "but I don't think so. This looks to me like a totally different group. I'd be willing to bet these were just being used as a smoke screen to throw us off the trail until it was too late."

"Looks like they succeeded."

"Not yet. They haven't revealed themselves which means there's still time. We still need you Harry, you're the only one that can do this."

'God Dammit, Sonofabitch, FUUUUUUUUCK.'

"I'll look into it."


	7. 06 No auror on earth

06 No auror on earth

…

Alastor "Mad-eye" Moody was not the only auror to have survived Voldemort's first rise to power and eventually retire. Among the few who did he was by far the most famous, mostly for two reasons. One, all the missing pieces and two, the fact that he was absolutely insane, and in a way that was fun to gossip about when he wasn't around to hear it.

That said, not every retired auror was a half crazed amputee or a spell slinging cowboy. Some just trained them.

…

His muscles burned as he bent just out of range of the spinning blades. His body glistened with sweat as he dodged barrage after barrage of fireballs. The sudden eruption of a wall of flame gave him only a second's pause as two quick slashes with his wand froze it at the source and allowed him to move further into the insane deathtrap.

…

A stone door melted away into sand and he stepped into the darkened room. As soon as he stepped across the threshold the opening was sealed and the room became pitch black.

"So, you think you're worthy" echoed a haunting voice.

He made no reply, standing stock still, every muscle tense, ready.

"Foolish little man, SUFFER!"

The first spell came from the right, a flash of white that flew past his head and splashed against the wall. He responded with a yellow light moving as he cast meaning to dodge his opponent's next spell before it even came.

And so it went, back and forth in rapid succession like a furious rainbow. Other spells too but those without color came into play, shifting the terrain which neither one could see and ultimately ended the battle when the booming voice slipped on a handful of marbles, leaving himself open for the invaders final spell.

"Aw bollocks."

…

"I suppose congratulations are in order" said the old man as he proudly glared at his student, "you have officially completed what no auror in the past fifty years has managed, my course."

"Oh I don't know, that last bit was pretty weak, felt like you were holding back" the young man cocked off.

"Ha, I'm insulted you would even imply such a thing" the old man huffed.

"Oh well, I guess it must just be the OLD!"

"Ah I'll show you old" he shot back making a very obscene gesture to make his point.

His point however just caused his companion to start laughing. Putting on the face of one most affronted only made him laugh harder till at last the old man couldn't take it anymore and started to laugh as well.

"No but in all seriousness, you did good Harry, best I've ever seen."

Harry just grinned, "Thanks Max, and thanks for letting me run it today."

"I was a bit surprised I admit, don't most people have better things to be doin on a Sunday?"

"Lots, but every time I try to start on one my mind keeps going back to what I have to do tomorrow."

Max nodded his head in understanding, "can't say I envy you that one."

"Shoulda done this months ago, but I've just been so busy."

"And I suppose the idea of a room full of angry goblins had nothing to do with this 'procrastination'."

"it might've" he admitted quietly.

"We'll at least ya don't have to worry about 'em takin yur wand" the former auror chuckled.

Harry glared at the aforementioned bit of wood, half charred and mostly useless as it was, "Ya know this'll be the third one fifth one I've burned out like this since I started training with you. It's happening faster too."

"Little surprise, your absurdly powerful you know, even the best wands have their limits."

*sigh* "Worthless piece a junk" he said tossing the useless stick away.

"Bah, what do you need it for? An artificial focus is no substitute for the natural sort" he said pointing emphatically to his brain, or maybe his bald spot?

"You keep saying that but you use a wand" Harry countered.

"Aye I do, and that's why you shouldn't. I was already a grown man well on becoming an old man before I learned this. By that point my magic had become so conditioned to being used with a wand that it was obscenely difficult to learn how to cast without one. I still can't do it all that well you know."

"Then why use them at all, why not just teach them to focus their minds from the get go?"

"You've obviously never worked with children before" the old man chortled.

Harry made to object but then stopped, suddenly understanding what a stupid question he had asked and hanging his head for having asked it.

"Were I you I'd stop wasting money on useless sticks and 'focus' on what does work."

"Suppose you're right" he conceded.

"Course I am" the old man preened.

Harry just smiled and shook his head.

"So, fancy another go? We'll call this the 'Hard' mode, no stick twiddlers here."

*sigh* "Why not?"


	8. 07 Making peace

07 Making peace

…

"DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!" the goblins chanted.

The man being held up by a pair of burly goblins could barely here them over the sound of his own insides rebelling. He barely registered the cup being forced to his lips at the end of a pole and struggled little as its contents were drained down his gullet. His whole body trembled and a few moments later it all came rushing back out to great fanfare from his audience.

He had no idea how long this had been going on nor how many cups of the putrid sickening 'goblin wine' he'd been forced to ingest. There was only pain, pure unadulterated agony, the kind of raw suffering that tends to hinder cognitive thought.

He barely registered as the thrum of the crowd dimmed to a bare hum. Someone spoke in a loud voice but he couldn't make out a word of it, either a foreign language or his brain was simply incapable of its language function, he didn't really care. The revolt in his insides had signed the armistice and was now only a heavy permeating ache as the damage was surveyed and the horror was allowed to sink in.

'It's over' he thought for a moment, his first coherent thought in he knew not how long.

Too bad it was wrong.

The speaker came to a bombastic end and the crowd roared. He felt his body lifted up and dragged away. A sense of relief overtook him. Surely it was over, so sure of this he was that he never registered where they were dragging him. Then without ceremony he was hurled into the air and plummeted into a massive cauldron of water.

His mind, blurred by pain and drink came into sharp focus in less than an instant. The water was cold and not just cold, very cold, subarctic cold, just about solid cold. His body reacted as any body does under such conditions, everything tensed. It was a struggle to move, his mind flooded with panic as he sank deeper and deeper into the apparently bottomless depths.

Was this to be his end, drown by goblins for the sake of entertainment? Was this really it, surviving a dark lord just to die here?

'The Bloody Hell it is!'

With herculean will, he forced his body to move. It screamed in protest but he ignored it, he wouldn't be ended here, not now, not after he'd come so far.

His head broke the surface and he took a great gulp of air. He faintly registered a dull roaring around him but he was unable to understand, he was spent, mentally and physically. With the last of his strength he lurched free of the cauldron and crashed to the floor, the impact a minor addition to the massive suffering he'd already undergone, he barely noticed.

He dully registered the recession of sound, faintly noted as his head was tipped back, and just barely kept from choking on something that was poured down his throat. It undoubtedly tasted foul he was sure but given the ravaging of the wine both going down and coming up his tongue was entirely numb to any taste so he hardly noticed.

After a time he became cognizant again, his ability to think and to feel returning and he was much surprised to find his first feeling wasn't unimaginable pain. In fact, the floor he lay on wasn't even cold, it was pleasantly warm. As synapses began firing again he slowly propped himself up and looked around. The stands that ringed the small circular arena were empty and the cauldron he'd nearly drown in was gone.

Slowly he turned and noticed that he was in fact 'not' alone. Two goblins stood looking impassively at him as though they had been and were prepared to 'wait' for a very long time. Cautiously he turned over so he was facing the two goblins, both hands on the floor before him. Upon assuming the position the two goblins nodded and came forward, each placing a hand over one of his.

Then came the pain.

He clenched his teeth, letting out barely a strangled gasp. It wasn't out of defiance but more a trained reaction to the time he'd been regularly tortured, then it had been about defiance.

The pain was intense but brief, and when he opened his eyes he saw upon the backs of their hands strange marks, both different, and when they moved their hands away he saw the same marks no on his own hands.

"The shadow of thieves welcomes you to the cabal, brother" spoke the one.

"The blood of warriors welcomes you to the legion, brother" spoke the other.

This said the two turned and left without another word, leaving Harry Potter dazed and confused, a state he was far too familiar with for his liking.

Rising to his feet he found himself alone, the two goblins having disappeared in the time it had taken him to stand. As he looked around from his new perspective he found a single exit, a large stone door left ajar. Suspicious yet lacking any better options he made for the door calmly, observantly, leery of any other surprises.

On the other side he found a small room with a single table upon which sat a familiar set of cloths. Familiar because they had been what he was wearing when he arrived at Gringott's that morning. Simple black trousers and a common black turtleneck were paired with his two most exceptional garments, a pair of leather boots, custom fit, and a long black coat trimmed in gold. It wasn't a robe or anything so common as that but a coat, similar to a duster but not as loose, buttoning from collar to waist and fanning down from there to about mid-calf.

"Now don't you look dashing" she'd said.

The coat had been a gift from a girl named Liz who he'd worked with when he had been employed at a small tailor's shop for several months a while back. She'd been clearly smitten with him, so much so that even he had noticed. The coat had been her gift to him when he had left, so he wouldn't forget her, she had said.

Glad to see it hadn't been mistreated he glanced around the room and noticed the door he'd come through was gone but another one he hadn't noticed upon entering was open. Knowing a hint when he saw one, now anyway, he passed through the open door and into a long high vaulted hallway. It wasn't a moment later that a set of torches sprang to life indicating the direction in which he was meant to go.

Boot heels clicking on the hard stone floor he followed his allotted path till finally he came to a door, intricately carved with a highly embellished symbol at the center that he didn't recognize and the words 'Bank Manager' carved into the lintel overhead.

Casually he approached the door, raised his hand and rapped three times. The door opened and Harry saw an unfamiliar goblin sitting behind a massive desk surround by walls of shelves and drawers.

"Warrior Thief Potter" he said by way of greeting, "please do come in."

Quirking an eyebrow at the strange form of address he complied none the less, cautiously entering even as the door closed behind him with a resounding echo.

…

*Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore*

A mist began to appear before him, slowly coalescing into a vaguely humanoid shape until clarifying into the upper part of a very dead man.

"Harry?" the specter seemed surprised.

"Hello Albus" he replied nonchalantly.

"Harry, what is the meaning of this, why am I here?"

*CLACK*

The spirit looked down where it found its wrists bound in chains.

"Funny you should ask that" replied Harry.

"Harry what is going on" the spirit demanded, its grandfatherly façade slipping as it fearfully tugged at its restraints which refused to yield.

"I wouldn't bother trying to get out, the goblins assure me you won't be able to."

If a ghost could have paled Albus Dumbledore most assuredly would have, "Goblins? Harry you must release me, you don't understand what's going on."

"Actually for the first time in my life I think I have a pretty good idea what's going on, 'Thief' Dumbledore."

The ghost of the old man recoiled in Horror as Harry displayed the hand which marked him as a shadow of the cabal, a mark he was now able to see likewise emblazoned on the spirits hand.

"Harry, please" the spirit begged.

"Success" Harry replied, "Above all things the goblins respect it is success. You stole from them, and got away with it, just like me. And just like me, though for completely different reasons, you returned to Gringott's afterward. Aren't many people brave enough or stupid enough to do that is there Albus" his grin made it difficult to tell which one he believed he was speaking to.

"Harry you must release me, you don't understand."

"Sure I do. You are a thief, a very successful thief" said Harry, never losing his jovial demeanor, "you've been a successful thief all your life, you've stolen all sorts of things from all sorts of people for all sorts of reasons. You've been a great success."

"Harry please, I can explain."

"There's no need to explain, I already know" said Harry, "I know how you lied to me, manipulated me, stole my childhood, my innocence, and any chance I had of having a normal family, I know."

"Harry please" the spirit begged like a broken record.

"It's amazing really, you'd probably be the most celebrated thief in the cabal's history, if only you owned up to your responsibilities" Harry tsked and shook his head.

"Please, Harry, no" the ghost began to sob.

"It's rather amazing to me that you managed to avoid paying your dues for so many years but at least I understand now why you were never afraid of dying. The next great adventure you always said but what you meant was the great escape from having to pay what you owed."

As if on cue a pair of doors opened behind Harry and three goblins walked in, two holding long metal poles with claws at the end and another with a rod with a very familiar cup at the end.

"no… no, nonoononNO!"

"Oh yes, you are well overdue. I admit I was a bit depressed when I heard I'd have to drink a cup of that wretched gut killer once a year and I wasn't the least bit surprised to learn you'd avoided doing it ever since you were inducted. You always did seem good at avoiding things."

"Please Harry, what I did, it was for the greater good."

"Yeah, your greater good, and now you're finally going to pay for your greater good."

With that said Harry turned on his heel and left, ignoring the anguished wail of a man finally forced to pay for a life of greater good.


	9. 08 Barroom tussle

08 Barroom tussle

…

It was a hairy situation. They had him surrounded in a half circle with his back against the bar. These men, agents of what he considered to be the new dark lord had come to try and scare him off. He wasn't sure if they knew of his involvement in taking down the anti-pureblood group or his ongoing investigation to find them but in the end it didn't really matter, here they were, here he was, let the violence commence.

The one on his most left took the initiative pulling a strange knife that seemed to glow darkness, if that makes any sense, and lunged at him with obvious intent. With deft practiced movements he caught the arm as it came in and twisted it just so that the attacker suddenly found his own weapon coming at him. He wasn't nearly as fast as Harry and the long blade slid nicely into his throat with a strange sizzling sound like a steak on the grill.

The man gurgled as Harry let him fall to the floor so he could turn his gaze to the four that remained, each staring in disbelief.

"Who's next?" he asked calmly, giving a little smirk.

He hated using maneuvers he'd learned from snots like Draco Malfoy but if there was one thing the obnoxious twit new how to do it was piss people off. They all came this time, one of them having turned a very familiar shade of red he'd usually associated with his uncle. He sidestepped a fireball from a ring and slid past a slash with a long curved sword. Two quick jabs and the sword was dropped as its holder stumbled back grasping his bleeding nose.

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye his arm came up and was wrapped in a thick chain held by another of his attackers. Forced to divide his attention he threw up a shield with his own ring to block another fireball while his eyes lit up with a golden glow. The only warning the chain man got was a brief spark before lightning surged through the chain and lit him up like a roman candle. He slumped to the ground a charred corpse just in time for the man he'd punched to make a second attempt.

Without time to move he blocked with the arm wrapped in chain and was pleased when the obviously enchanted sword *clanged* and bounced off. Seeing another fireball coming he angled his shield just so that instead of absorbing it the fireball was deflected into the sword man. Both men watched with some fascination as the sword man took the hit, caught fire, and burned like he'd been soaked in gasoline for a year.

Then there was just them, Harry's eyes glowed and the fireball man nearly pissed himself as he turned to run. Harry however was having none of that and, quickly canceling his shield, summoned the fool before he'd taken three steps. The fireball man screamed like a little girl as he flew through the air and gurgled like a dying man as he landed on the dagger that had started the fight.

And then it was still, no one was attacking him. Harry surveyed the damage as he unwrapped the chain from his arm. Two charred corpses, check. Two guys stabbed to death, check. Then it hit him, 'wasn't there five of them.

A strangled cry followed by a thump gave him his answer and he watched as a man lying unconscious at his feet faded into visibility, a simple ring on his finger glowing faintly till he was fully visible wherein it stopped.

Harry looked up then and saw the stranger at the bar, smiling happily.

"I owe you one" said Harry.

"Think nothing of it my good sir" he said jovially.

The man's smile was infectious and Harry found he couldn't help smiling back.

"You all done makin a mess in my bar" a voice shouted from the back.

"Mess, 's probably cleaner now than it was ten minutes ago" Harry shouted back.

"I'll be the judge of that" came the retort as the owner of the bar came walking out with a small keg on his shoulder. "Hmmm" he hmmmed thoughtfully, "well, 's not as bad as I expected" he confessed.

"Rather interesting bunch really" said the smiling man, "Don't know many wizards that use artifacts like those anymore."

Harry gave the youngish looking man an odd look.

"It's that new trouble maker been muckin about, seems to be his thing. Ain't that right Harry?"

"Dare I ask how you know about that Aberforth?" Harry asked suspiciously.

The last living Dumbledore just laughed, "You'd be surprised what people will say once they're too drunk to stand, ain't that right Nick?"

"Well that's always been the case in my experience, and I've run no less than four different drinking establishments in my life" the smiling man agreed.

"Not to sound rude but you hardly look old enough to …" Harry started to say but was suddenly cut off when the two men broke out laughing.

"Ee, eee, doesn't think you're old enough" cackled Dumbledore pounding on the bar.

"Well, thas awful nice of you to say" Nick laughed, nearly falling out of his seat.

Harry just glared at the two men, "fine, laugh, I don't care" he said, annoyed.

Unfortunately they found this to be hilarious which set them off again which only made Harry growl.

"Now what is all this nonsense" said a new voice.

Harry, being the only one not laughing themselves sick, was the only one to acknowledge the attractive and petite woman who strode into the bar.

"I don't know" he groused, "and they don't seem to feel like sharing."

The woman merely shook her head, "Nicolas Flamel, stop cackling like a hyena or it's the spiked bed for you tonight" she shouted.

"Aw Penny" the giggling man whined from the floor.

Penny simply glared at her husband while the young man next to her stared like a deer caught in the headlights.

"I'm sorry but did you just call him Nicolas Flamel?" Harry asked stupidly.

"It is his name" she said, turning her attention to Harry.

"Nicolas Flamel. As in the inventor of the sorcerer's stone?"

"Philosophers stone dear, I'm not sure what idiot first called it a sorcerer's stone but yes, he is" she corrected.

"I take it you've heard of me" said the not at all 600 year old looking man.

"Yeah, you might say that" agreed Harry.

He might say a few other things as well, the only question was where to start.


	10. 09 Master of Artifacts

09 Master of artifacts

…

For someone who had lived just outside of London all his life it was quite an experience the first time he actually got a chance to look around. London was a city full of history proudly on display and, for the true explorer, hidden away as well. Wizards and witches had been hiding entire streets since the time of Queen Victoria, but before that they had followed the example of the moles as evidenced by the Ministry of Magic.

That, Harry discovered, was the least of what was hidden away beneath the streets of London. He had found the secret entrance to an underground catacombs by following the remains of a raid he had disrupted who had stupidly led him back to what he initially believed was a safe house of sorts. He had only been partly right. It was easily as big as a house, but he hadn't been the least bit safe.

There were dozens of them where he had been expecting three or four at most and given that he had charged right in like a gung ho fool only to stop dead as a small army stared at the sudden intruder in their midst.

What followed was a running battle out of the initial chamber and through a maze of tunnels and rooms. His adaptability had been put to the test as he was forced to fight with whatever he found around him using his still limited repertoire of wandless spells he was confident enough to use in combat.

The harmless Bluebell flame Hermione had been so fond of in first year made for excellent diversions as none of them seemed to realize the fire didn't actually burn. The basic light spell made for an effective close range flash and any sort of small object he could touch was used as transfiguration fodder, but only small things, he still lacked the focus under pressure to do anything large or complex. And of course the telekinetic spells, levitation, summoning and banishing were used liberally.

The fight raged for hours, never really clear who was hunting who till a point came for Harry where he hadn't seen a single person for a good twenty minutes. Was that it, had he killed them all, he wondered? It was at this point he came to a new room with an ornate door and thick frame carved right into the stone of the wall. The door stood half open, as though someone had entered in a hurry not caring if they were followed.

Cautiously, Harry squeezed through the opening, careful not to make a sound, and almost gasped aloud when he saw what the light shining out into the darkness had prevented him from seeing.

It was a library… no, Hogwarts had a library, this, library just didn't seem appropriate. It was an archive, a library of libraries. The room was massive, dwarfing the great hall of Hogwarts easily, and everywhere he looked, books, scrolls, parchment, he even saw what looked like stone tablets and rolled up strips of bark.

'This might well be the resting place of every piece of knowledge ever put down' he thought, which was followed by, 'Hermione would probably orgasm if I just told her this place existed.'

That thought made him a bit red so he banished the distracting cranial impulse to be dealt with later, when he wasn't in enemy territory.

Walking silently he took the steps down to the base floor where a large series of tables sat in organized blocks, some were covered in texts and manuscripts while others remained bare, waiting to be used. If not for the total lack of people he would have believed the place was still in use, and maybe it was. He had after all just killed a large number of people it was very possible they had used this place in fact it made perfect sense.

Caught up in his mental rambling he almost didn't hear the telltale sound of someone trying to walk silently with a hard heel. He dove under the nearest table just as the arrow sailed through the space he'd been occupying.

"Damn it" someone cursed.

"I hope you've got more than that" Harry taunted.

"Don't worry, I do" his attacker replied.

Harry dared to peek out from under the table and saw a bookish fellow of middle looking age fiddling with a crossbow. The man's attention was completely on his task which Harry found rather foolish so silently he stood, pointed two fingers, took a deep breath, and cursed.

The piercing curse flew straight and true, punching through arrow and crossbow splitting the weapon into two useless pieces. The process startled the academic fellow as well who promptly dropped the broken weapon and looked up at Harry with a look of absolute shock.

"Wha… what the bloody hell did you do that for?" he screamed.

Harry gave him a skeptical look, "when I said 'I hope you've got more' I was being sarcastic you realize?"

"Well that's still no reason to go breaking other people's things" the man insisted in a shrill tone.

'Clearly he does not understand the situation' thought Harry, "Would you please stop your whining."

"I DO NOT…" he paused a moment to clear the little girl from his throat, "I do not whine."

"Sure ya don't."

The man scowled at Harry as though he might set him on fire if he did so hard enough. Failing that he turned his nose up haughtily.

"I suppose I shouldn't be surprised 'you' found us here. I knew you were dangerous but it seems I underestimated how cunning you were."

"You say 'you' as though you're familiar with me" Harry said, not the least bit surprised since most people he'd met were the same way, "but I'm pretty sure I've never heard of you."

The man gave a superior smirk, "but of course, a first meeting does warrant introductions" he said grandly.

"I am Matthew Schroeder, thirty sixth master of the great repository, but you may call me The Artificer."

"Charmed" said Harry, clearly not.

"And of course everyone knows you, Harry James Potter, Boy-who-lived, Man-who-won."

"He-who-has-hyphens" added Harry with a look of annoyance, "so, am I to take it you're the one in charge of this whole operation."

"Of course" the Artificer said pompously coming down to Harry's level as though he were conversing with a student and not the man who had just destroyed his weapon.

"Then I would be correct in assuming you are responsible for the deaths of those people kidnapped last year by that anti-pureblood group?"

He took a moment to look thoughtful before answering simply, "Yes."

"Why?"

"Why not" he countered, "they were scum, the drek of society, a bunch of posturing ninny's who fancied themselves important."

'Like the pot calling the kettle black' thought Harry, "That was hardly reason enough to kill them."

"Wasn't it, I disagree" he said staring coldly at Harry who remained completely impassive, "They used their power to impose their will upon others, torture, brainwashing, the utter ruin of society, you don't thing that was reason enough?"

"I don't think it was up to you to make that decision" Harry said, refusing to agree with the man no matter how much he wanted to.

"And why not, someone must, why not me" it wasn't really a question and he plunged ahead before Harry could answer anyway, "You must understand Mr. Potter, there have always been times in history when governments have grown too corrupt to survive, and in such times someone must step forward to lead the people to a better future. This time, that person shall be me."

"And if they don't want to be led to 'your' future?" it was a rhetorical question, Harry already knew the answer.

"Well, sacrifices must be made for the greater good, mustn't they?"

Harry glared at the self-righteous little toad, "as someone who 'was' one of those sacrifices, I'd have to say no."

The Artificer, whether feeling the heat of his glare or the ice in his tone realized he had said the wrong thing to the Dark lord slayer and made a very calculated move.

The wand slipped from its wrist holster into his hand, he turned, sighted, and cast all within a single second. His execution was perfect, if his target hadn't seen it coming and moved. The spell, a little known curse from Egypt, sailed on past the quick footed Potter who paid it no mind as he dashed at the Artificer.

Not out of tricks his free hand dove into his pocket and came back out with a silver ring on. The ring fired a fierce bolt of lightning strait at the oncoming man powerful enough to turn him to cinders. Bare centimeters from the oncoming electricity he disappeared and reappeared just as quickly only now he was no more than a foot away from the now terrified academic and , with speed that seemed to defy logic had buried his fist in the man's face.

The strike seemed to carry an impossible amount of force and sent the Artificer flying through the air. Crash through one table before hitting the ground he then then slid under three more before finally stopping. Harry was quick to follow but was surprised when he was unable to find arrogant man.

A sudden feeling of danger, Harry dove to the side just barely avoiding being skewered by a rapier blade.

"Ha, you may have gotten lucky but your paltry magic's won't save you" the Artificer gloated, lunging forward with the sword.

Dragging his hands across the floor as he rose Harry backpedaled away from sword, possessing no quick spell to deflect the weapon. The Artificer gave chase, never noticing the suspicious shine on the floor till his foot struck the recently transfigured patch of ice and flew out from under him. This having been Harrys plan all along he dashed forward landing a vicious blow to the floating ribs that caused a sickening crack followed by another to the solar plexus backed up by a banishing charm which once again sent the Artificer flying.

He bounced off a railing then careened off a table and vanished from sight again. This time however he simply stood up and dusted himself off like he'd done no more that take a bit of a tumble. Harry was perplexed.

Hagrid couldn't have taken that hit so well, he thought. Then it hit him, it was obvious really, another artifact. He'd already seen a wide array of the man's work so why not. That left him with a conundrum, exactly what did it do, did it heal him, protect him from harm, would it protect him from a fatal blow or would that be too much.

Only one way to find out.

Reaching into a too deep pocket he took hold of a hilt and pulled a foul looking dagger that seemed to glow darkness, which still didn't make sense. The Artificer gave a sour look upon spotting Harry's weapon.

"Well now, isn't that a bit hypocritical, using something like that" he chided.

"I don't think so" said Harry noticing the how uneasy the appearance of the dagger had made his enemy.

"Humph, well as the one who made it I can already tell you it won't do you any good" he said smugly.

Harry just grinned, seeing through the thin veneer, "yeah, I'll bet."

"I grow tired of your insolence boy, time to die" he shouted with a false bravado as he rushed Harry yet again.

Now it must be said Harry didn't really know how to fight with a knife, a matter he swore to rectify when he got out of there. Instead, he kept falling back as the Artificer stabbed at him, taking a few small cuts and feeling an odd sting with each one which he promptly ignored, all the while waiting for an opening.

Finally the Artificer overextended a strike and Harry made a single quick slash at his hand. The man yelped in surprise and quickly fell back but before he did Harry saw a glowing golden line where the dagger had connected sealing up a small red line that had appeared on the hand.

It was a healing artifact, fast acting too. He knew what he had to do.

He gave chase but was forced to backpedal again as the Artificer renewed his assault. In a desperate gamble Harry thrust with the dagger and fired it like an arrow with a banishing charm. Almost in slow motion he watched as the Artificer scrambled to parry and at the last second connected, sending the dagger flying into the air.

"Ha, a pitiful gamble" he gloated and lunged again.

This time however Harry made no move to avoid, instead grabbing the sword by the blade and stopping it just short of his chest. The Artificer struggled to free his weapon from the iron grip. Harry, with his quarry stuck thrust out with his free palm. The Artificer panicked but refused to release his weapon and was surprised when the strike didn't connect. A half second later he understood why.

"Gack!" the dagger, no longer in sight, had been momentarily forgotten and was now buried in his back.

He weakly released his sword as he struggled to reach around and pull the weapon out but to no avail. The weapon was lodge right where he couldn't get at. Preoccupied he didn't notice Harry step up to him, he did however notice when Harry hit him, knocking him down onto his back.

He made a rather sickening sound as the weight of his body shoved the knife clean through, its point left sticking out of his sternum.

Harry released the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, ignoring the stinging sensation from his bleeding fingers and watching as the cursed dagger fought against whatever enchantment was trying to heal the Artificer who looked to be in considerable pain.

He could be merciful and end it, or he could just let the magic's battle each other to one or the other triumphed.

Decisions decisions.


	11. 10 A wilted Pansy

10 A wilted Pansy

…

There are moments in one's life that force us to give pause. For Harry Potter this was one of them.

…

She was dirty, that was his first thought, and not just dirty but absolutely filthy, like she'd rolled around in a mud puddle and then let it dry. For her part she looked just as shocked as he felt, eyes wide staring up at him as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Of all the expressions he'd seen on Pansy Parkinson, this was a new one.

It was surprising really that in the three years since his defeat of Voldemort and leaving Hogwarts he had seen very little of the people he had attended school with. In fact, the dirty beggar staring at him was the first one since he'd passed Theodore Nott coming out of Gringott's some five months earlier. Apparently it wasn't just his own fortunes that had dramatically shifted.

The moment seemed to drag out as neither one could think of anything to say now that identities had been confirmed and Harry found he couldn't simply walk away. Eventually Pansy's arm grew tired and she made to retract the begging appendage but was surprised when the savior of the wizarding world grasped it.

"Join me for dinner?" he said.

What could she possibly say to that?

…

It was interesting, Harry mused, that even as she devoured her third plate of food like the half-starved woman that she was she somehow managed to do it with better manners than Ron. With few exceptions Ron had always eaten like never had and might never again despite having done the exact same thing several hours earlier and knowing he'd do it several hours later every day. In fact, until the 'camping trip from hell' as he'd come to call it, he was fairly sure Ron had never gone hungry a day in his life.

Now compare that to someone like Pansy or himself, people who obviously understood what it meant to have your stomach try and eat itself. It really did just boggle the mind, or at the very least it did for Harry.

"You might want to slow down a little" he commented gently.

His dining partner looked up startled, it seemed she'd forgotten he was there.

"If you eat too much too fast it'll just end up coming right back out, and that would just be a terrible waste for everyone, don't you agree?"

Her mouth mad a shamed 'oh' and she nodded as though she'd just been severely chastised.

"Take your time" he said soothingly, "there's no rush, is there Ben?" he called to the man at the bar.

"No rush Mr. Potter, no rush at all" the man assured then returned to what he'd been doing.

She looked at him and, seeing no move to stop her, raised her fork to her food again but then stopped. Harry watched as she set the fork down and turned her attention to him. If he hadn't been so used to people staring at him the intensity of her gaze would have been unnerving.

"Why?" she said quietly.

"Why what?" he replied.

"Why this" she gestured at the table, "Why are you being so nice?"

"According to some people I'm just a nice person" he said with a shrug.

"But why are you being nice 'to me'" she demanded, a bit of the old Pansy Parkinson shining through.

"Is there something unique about you that should prevent me from being nice?"

"You hated me" she accused.

"No I didn't."

"Yes you did" she yelled, striking the table.

Harry pretended not to notice, "I never hated you. Draco, him I hated, I just thought you were annoying."

"Still then, why? Why be nice to me?" It was plain to see she was expecting some sort of trick, Harry understood, he would have felt the same way.

"I was curious I guess" he said, "I haven't seen you in three years and suddenly there you are, filthy, dirty, and begging. For me this has been a very long three years, I guess I just never thought about how it might have been for someone else."

She didn't know how to respond to that one so she looked away, the defiance in her posture melting away.

"What did happen Pansy?"

For a while it seemed like she wouldn't answer and when she did speak it was quiet and tense.

"My uncle was a death eater" she said, "No one was buying the imperius curse line this time and he was sent to Azkaban. My father wasn't a death eater, he was just related to one, so he was investigated, and so was my mother, and so was I. They went through our house like a bunch of vandals, old nick nacks and antiques that had been collecting dust on lintels and in cabinets since before I was born were taken as 'dark arts paraphernalia'. Then, to add insult to injury came the fines. I'll never forget how gleeful they looked when they started reading off the list. We had to sell everything, all our possessions, our home, all gone.

After that we rented a small flat down in Knockturn Alley and tried to find work. It was hard, no one wanted to hire us, then one morning my mother and I woke up and found my father with a rope around his neck, hanging from the ceiling. There was nothing that could be done but I went to fetch the auror's anyway and when I got back my father's body was lying on the floor and my mother was hanging from the rope. I've been out on the street ever since."

He really had been off in his own world, Harry realized. There really was no love lost between him most of those who came out of Slytherin, but just like Fudge and Umbridge, that didn't mean he wished them ill, certainly not this. There was also a part of him that seethed with cold fury at the part about the aurors, pitiful little pencil neck cowards, couldn't fight their way out of a wet paper bag but that didn't stop them from destroying people's lives.

Pansy was trying not to cry, not to shake and sob at the memories but it was so hard, so very hard. Then a hand touched her should and she looked up into the most beautiful eyes she'd ever seen.

"Why don't we go back to my place?" he said.

In a better state of mind she might have accepted the comment for what it was but with reason in turmoil she took it completely the wrong way.

Is he seriously asking what I think he's asking? Can I really afford to say no? It's not like I've got anything better lined up and he is kinda cute.

Honestly, what could she possibly say to that?

…

Running water. Running 'HOT' water. It was the little things, the things always taken for granted that were missed the most when they were no longer there. Like the ability to wash off the collected filth of months of living on the street with hot running water or soft fluffy towels and bathrobes that swaddled you in obscene comfort or even something so simple as a hairbrush.

Pansy had never appreciated these things growing up but she certainly did now as she sat in front of a massive mirror brushing out the last of the kinks in her hair and wondering just when it had gotten so long.

Setting the brush down she examined herself more thoroughly. She wasn't bad looking really, she'd grown out of that whole pug nosed thing shortly after Hogwarts and given her 'diet' she'd managed to stave of the weight so many women complained about, really she didn't look half bad.

Oh who was she kidding she was twenty years old and could have passed for forty, she looked old and tired and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. Oh well, no point in keeping him waiting.

Stepping out of the bathroom she found him patiently waiting. He offered her his hand which she hesitantly accepted and led her to a room not more than a few steps away. He opened the door to reveal the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. A four poster bed with big fluffy pillows and patchwork comforter, she could have cried.

There were no other thoughts in her head as she was led into the room except how magnificent it was. She gave no thought as the comforter was pulled back except how soft and smooth the sheet looked. She didn't even seem to realize she had lain down until she felt the magical softness against her skin. She might well have purred as the comforter was placed over her and she was enveloped in the magnificent warmth of a real bed for the first time in too long. She didn't even realize the lights had been turned out and she'd fallen asleep till the next morning when she awoke.

She was warm, and comfortable… and alone. This came as something of a shock given what she believed to be the reason she was there. She was hesitant to leave her happy little cocoon but as every butterfly knows, can't stay in there forever.

She found a pair of fuzzy slippers thoughtfully waiting for her and she silently slipped out of the room. Her first stop was the bathroom, for obvious reasons, then, on her way out, she caught the aroma of something, she couldn't quite pin it down but she knew it was food, and she knew she was hungry. Simple logic really.

She was surprised, upon arriving in the kitchen, to find the very same man who'd brought her into his home the night before standing before a stove top with four pans busily preparing breakfast, by hand.

"Good morning" he said without even turning to look at her, "breakfast should be done in just a minute."

She didn't know how to respond, the whole thing was just ludicrous. Numbly she sat down at the table. Fortunately her shock had worn off enough but the time the food arrived that she didn't miss it.

With breakfast out of the way and the plates washing themselves in the sink, like they should be, she was forced to confront the fact that she was face to face with Harry Potter, in his house, alone, in nothing but a fluffy white bathrobe. There was only one place this could possible go.

As though to confirm this, he leaned forward, propping his elbows on the table to steeple his fingers in front of his face and said, "I've got a proposition for you."

Here it comes, "Yes."

"Well I'll just come right out and say it, I'd like to hire you as my lawyer."

"What?" this was about as far out of left field as you could get.

"You heard me."

"But… why, I mean, I don't know any more about law than any other …"

"Pureblood raised child" he finished for her, "I didn't really expect you to yet, but that can be changed."

"Wha… I don't understand" this was not going how she expected.

"A friend of mine pointed out to me that there was more to being a successful lawyer than knowing the law, you had to know the people you were dealing with, the culture as it were. All the little things that affected the way they saw the big things, you see?"

"But, still, why not just hire a lawyer, why me?"

"Why not you" he countered, "and as for hiring a lawyer, well, I prefer a devil I know than one I don't, and given just how much I want you to do it seems to make more sense to just keep my own lawyer, like a pet you might say."

"But why me?" she insisted, choosing to ignore the pet comment.

"You're here. You need work. You have something better?"

It was absurd, ridiculous, patent lunacy, but still, it was a chance, certainly better than anything she'd been expecting the previous day.

Really, what could she possibly say to that?

"So, just to be clear, we 'aren't' going to have sex?


	12. 11 Ending the Relationship

11 Ending the Relationship

…

"We're done."

It was short and succinct. The relationship was over, time to move on, find someone else, all summed up in two words. Of course the person being told this didn't really appreciate the utility of the phrase.

"Just like that?"

"Just like that."

"I distinctly remember you trying several times before to quit on me, yet here we are."

"The last time was four years ago, a great deal has changed since then, for me anyway."

"Really Harry, and what might that be?"

"My state of mind mostly Kingsley."

It had been seven years to the day since Harry had become Kingsley Shacklebolt's black cat, his covert behind the scenes man handling what the regular law enforcement simply could not. Now it was time to end it.

"Come on Harry, you don't expect me to believe you're just going to walk away from this, it's just not you."

"Seven years ago you might have been right, but I was still naïve of the world back then, I thought what I did mattered. I've come to realize I was wrong. I'm not helping anyone, I'm just prolonging the inevitable."

"Nothing is inevitable" the Minister argued.

Harry shook his head, "Kingsley, do you know how many serious threats I've eliminated since I started doing this? How many dark lords I've snuffed out before they could make their play for the country?"

Kingsley shrugged, why would he keep track of something like that?

"Fifteen. In seven years Kingsley I've put down no less than fifteen major players."

"I think your exaggerating a bit" the Minister said condescendingly.

"Really, well why don't we remember just the ones the media got wind of, I'm sure you can remember those can't you, remember how embarrassing it was to stand out there and get grilled on a subject you knew nothing about."

The minister scowled but the young man pressed on.

"I believe Clayman was the first, you know, the golem guy that liked to smash stuff. Then there was the Beast Master, the name says it all and wasn't he quite the mess maker. Then of course there was the death cultist Miss Orchid and her nasty murder plants. And let us not forget our Japanese import Bandora."

"I hardly think that one counts" the Minister insisted.

Harry simply shrugged, not caring to argue that point, "And of course most recently we had King Chimera, the crazy happy bloke who loved to share his gift with the world, that gift being taking two or more things and making them into one, not so bad until he unleashed them on the public and started using that gift on people, but I don't really have to tell you that, do I."

The Minister scowled at the barb but said nothing.

"And while the public may have no name for them we both know there were others. Others that if left unchecked could well have been worse than Voldemort, honestly after what I've seen the past seven years I can't even take 'him' seriously anymore."

"So you did your job."

"NO! I did 'your' auror's job" Harry shot back, "It was thirteen years between Voldemort's first death and his resurrection, so tell me, how many up and coming dark lords did your department have to deal with in that time Kingsley?"

The Minister gave him a sour look, "I don't know."

"Well I do, I had my lawyer check" this made the Minister grimace, more than once he'd cursed the day when Pansy Parkinson first stepped into the court room, "the answer is none, not one, it's hardly a surprise that you were so useless against Voldemort when he returned, or should I say when you admitted he had returned."

"I don't see how you can blame that on me."

"I don't, at least not the denying his existence part, I just blame you for hypocrisy."

"How's that" the Minister almost growled.

"You complain about the aurors now being incompetent because they can't handle the dark lords that keep popping up. I'd honestly like to have seen how your group handled them, seeing how well you did against the death eaters I doubt you'd do much better."

Severely annoyed but an adept politician, the minister tried a different tact, "That's why we need you, don't you see."

"Oh I see Kingsley, I see things are not getting better. I see that so long as I'm around they're going to keep coming."

"You really think you're the reason for this, isn't that a bit arrogant?"

"No, I'm not the reason. Society is the reason. That society that created Voldemort hasn't seriously changed and it continues to pump out these problems at an ever increasing rate and if people aren't forced to deal with their problems they're never going to change. I'm not helping I'm just making things worse."

"So that's it, you'll shirk your duty…"

"Don't give me that crap 'Shack', you sound like fucking Dumbledore."

"He was a great man" the automatic response.

"And now you sound like Hagrid. I may like Hagrid but it doesn't mean I agree with him, or you."

The Minister stared hard at man before him, "you don't really think I can just let you walk away after everything you've done."

"If you had the power to stop me you wouldn't need me to begin with" Harry shot back, completely unperturbed by the barely veiled threat.

"I could have you arrested" the Minister tried.

"You're whole auror department could take the Clayman and I beat him all by myself, and Beast Master, and King Chimera, and all the others" it wasn't a boast, simply a statement of fact.

"If the press finds out…"

"You'll have to explain how you've had an illegal shadow operative running around killing people without so much as a by your leave for the past seven years. Got anything else?"

He didn't so he simply sat in his chair looking like he'd just sucked a particularly sour lemon.

"I thought not" said Harry rising from his chair, "Don't take it personally, it's just time."

"Humph, surprised you didn't drop this on me right after you killed King Chimera."

"I actually meant to, but the anniversary curse hit rather hard this year and I just finally got that mess under control."

"You won't last" the Minister said, "you were made for this, you really think you'll be able to stop yourself from running to the rescue the first time the next 'problem' starts killing people. You'll come, it's what you are."

"Were I you I wouldn't bet money on that" said Harry, donning his black fedora and striding to the door then stopping, "Oh, and since I'm raining on your day already, I'm kidnapping your secretary for the afternoon."

And with that he was through the door just in time to avoid the paperweight thrown at him by a highly irritated Minister of Magic.

…

"Diane" he crooned the name.

Said Diane felt a shiver run up her spine and desperately tried to suppress the pleasant tingles it sent to other places, "sounds like you got him all riled up again. You know he's going to be impossible to deal with the rest of the day."

"Fret not fair maid for I am kidnapping you away from the evil wizard" Harry declared grandly.

The pretty secretary giggled, "Oh really now" she protested then suddenly found her hand softly grasped within his and her heart skipped a beat.

"Come on, you don't want me to leave without saying a proper goodbye" his tone was pure velvet as gently caressed her hand.

"Wha? You're leaving bu… where, why?" the sudden rise in her hormone levels leaving her easily upset by such news.

"For fun, for adventure, and as for where, well, I'll be joining an expedition to find the lost continent of Atlantis. That said, I might be gone a while" he confessed.

"Well, when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning, can't be late. I've been told if I am they'll leave without me."

"Oh, that would be just awful" she said, already hatching her scheme.

Harry just grinned, he wouldn't get left behind, it didn't matter what she managed to conjure up but it would be fun to see what she did. Like he'd said, it was time, time to see the world, time to be his own man, time to start living.


	13. 12 Field Trip Over

12 Field trip over

…

Be it ever so humble there's no place like home. Whoever said that clearly had never lived in a place like #12 Grimmauld Place, thought Harry. Still it was nice to be home.

He walked down the street tired and rightly so, it had been a long trip and since they didn't have cabs to and from the lost city of Atlantis, he'd had to walk most of it, except in a few places where running had been strongly advised. But for the moment that was behind him, civilization was all around him, and home was just ahead, he was tired but content.

He hummed a tune to himself as he approached his front door, so lost in the warmth of familiar surroundings that he didn't even notice the person standing at the foot of the stairs until he almost ran into her.

"Ehem!"

He stopped in his tracks and looked up to see a familiar face and an even more familiar head of bushy hair.

"Hermione!" he exclaimed which seemed to surprise her.

Even more surprising was when he walked up to her and gave her a big hug, she clearly hadn't been expecting that.

"Hermione it's so good to see you" he said happily.

"Wha, bu, I, grrrr" she declared getting her feet under her again, "Harry James Potter where have you been?" she demanded hotly.

"Atlantis" he answered simply.

*blink**blink* "No, seriously, where have you been?"

Harry chuckled, "It really is good to see you Hermione."

Poleaxed she watched him skip up the stairs, open the door and disappear inside without saying a word. Of course, once he was out of sight her brain rebooted and charged in after him. She remembered quite vividly how dark and depressing the place had looked while housing the Order of the Phoenix, despite the best effort of Molly Weasley and her army of half-hearted conscripts, for a minute or two she thought she might somehow have stepped into a different house.

Gone, first of all, was the hideous troll leg umbrella stand replaced by a simple cylinder with an odd geometric style patter design. Gone as well were all the sneering growling portraits, most obvious of these being the portrait of the deceased Lady Black. In her place was a pair of metal discs each emblazoned with what she believed to be a family crest, one for the Potters and one for the Blacks. There was also a pair of ferns, one on either side of the crests and all around the room, light.

If she hadn't seen the number on the house she'd have been certain she was in the wrong place, but she had, and she wasn't.

"Harry!" she called.

"In here" came the faint reply from the kitchen.

Making her way to the kitchen she found her quarry with a plate of eggs and bacon and a small bowl of fruit which he was slowly picking his way through, as though he'd never seen fruit before.

"You know what I miss most about home?" he said before Hermione could start, "the food. More specifically, the diversity of the options, ya just can't find stuff like this a hundred miles down."

"What do you mean a hundred miles down…"

"Well, I mean I was probably farther all told but I didn't bother to check, after the hundred mile mark it just didn't seem worth it to me."

"Worth wa…, no, Where have you been, seriously" she demanded, feeling her ire rise as her befuddlement grew, honestly it was like try to get a straight answer out of Luna Lovegood.

Harry glanced at his friend out of the corner of his eye, "About a year ago I joined an expedition to find the lost continent of Atlantis."

"So when you said Atlantis you meant you were searching for it" well that sounded perfectly reasonable, not like that nonsense she had thought when he said…

"No, we found it"

…that.

"Oh really Harry just what sort of a fool do you take me for? Next you'll be telling me you've documented a Crumple horned snorkack."

"No such luck" he admitted, "I hear they prefer Sweden anyway."

"Oh honestly Harry."

It did nothing to improve her mood when he chuckled at her, "gods I have missed hearing you say that."

"That's funny, I actually thought you were avoiding all your friends given we haven't seen you since the five year anniversary of Voldemort's defeat."

"Oh please Hermione, let's not bring up 'that' disaster" Harry said rolling his eyes, the five year anniversary had been more annoying than life threatening but still.

"Is that why you've been hiding from us, is that why you didn't even come to our wedding?"

"I would have but I never got an invitation. By the time I heard about it I was already two months too late. Congrats by the way" he threw in just because.

"What do you mean you didn't get an invitation, it was the first one we sent out" she insisted.

"Nope, never saw it."

"I saw Ginny tie it to the owl I…"

"Wait, you had Ginny, as in Ginny Weasley send me your wedding invitation?"

"Well, in a roundabout way I suppose so but what does that have to do with anything?"

"I don't read mail from Ginny Weasley" he said, "I do not touch mail from Ginny Weasley in fact I do not even see the mail that comes from Ginny Weasley."

"What, why not?"

"After about the twelfth bit of mail that tried to charm, potion, or otherwise compel me into her clutches I left Kreacher with the standing order to simply destroy anything that so much as smelled like Ginny Weasley. If the little stalker couldn't take the hint then I'd just ignore her. If she even handled the invitation then Kreacher would have known."

"That is just, uuugh!"

"Sorry" he said, "I'm sure you were a lovely bride."

She did smile a little at that but before she could say anything there was the sound of the door opening and someone called, "Good Morning."

"In here" Harry called back.

A moment later, Pansy Parkinson dressed to impress in business casual joined them. Harry smiled while Hermione stifled a groan.

"Pansy, my favorite flower, you're looking magnificent today."

"Well, aren't you sweet, I suppose I should stop trying to have you declared legally dead" she said sarcastically.

"Why give up now?"

Hermione looked horrified but Pansy just laughed, "Nice to see you didn't lose your sense of humor on your little trip."

"God forbid" he agreed.

"And I see the peasantry has already invaded, good morning Mrs. Weasley."

"Miss Parkinson" the words dripped with Venom.

Harry chose to ignore the two women as they continued to snipe at each other. He'd have plenty of time to find out what each of them wanted later. He was back, and while he'd greatly enjoyed his trip, he had no intention of going on another one any time soon.

Be it ever so humble, well, you know the rest.


	14. 13 The Grape Vine

13 The Grape Vine

…

The sun rose majestic over the vineyards casting its joyous rays down on the elves already hard at work. They were all seasoned and tested before the vine having toiled at their particular profession for decades under their former master before being passed along to their new master along with the vineyard itself.

Harry stood up on the balcony of the château overlooking his happy workforce as they meandered about the vines. He had worked those vines once, years before when the owner had offered to sell him the vineyard. At the time he hadn't felt he had the experience to run a business. Several years and a handful of experience later things had changed, and instead of buying the vineyard it was, with the owners passing, given to him.

Of course it couldn't happen without someone contesting it, his estranged children for example. Not that this had stopped him from coming out and examining his new property. The vineyard was given to him and Pansy would see that the dissenters were handled, she was very good at that. So was he to be fair but his method involved a lot of bodies and he really didn't need that for something so minor as this.

He was happily sipping his tea when Pansy arrived, fresh and pressed as she always was, except when just crawling out of bed.

"Good news?"

"I had to explain to them in very small words and angry tones but I got the message through" she said, laying down an official looking bit of paper.

He smiled, set down his tea and stood, "Pansy you're a peach" he said and kissed her on the cheek.

"And a very expensive peach let's not forget" she reminded him.

Harry laughed at this. Her self-worth had come a long way from the day he'd found her begging on the street, it was nice to see the new Pansy was such an improvement over the old one.

"So, how are things back in old Blighty watt?" he asked, returning to his seat and taking up his tea.

"I suppose you haven't heard, being out here for the past week."

"Oh, something interesting?"

"Someone or someone's have brought a forcible end to the rather undistinguished term of Minister of Magic Kingsley Shacklebolt" she proclaimed laying the newspaper down on the table.

"Do tell" he said absently setting aside his tea in exchange for the paper.

"Apparently three days ago an undetermined number of persons penetrated the minister's office, stabbed him in the back, and left without ever being seen. Happened the same day I was wrapping this up" she said gesturing to the first piece of paper she'd presented, "For all I know I might have even seen them."

"There was only one" he said as he stared at the crime scene photo on the inner pages.

"How can you tell?"

"If there'd been more than one there'd be more than one blade. Why just leave the one after all?"

"I suppose that makes sense" she acquiesced.

"Then there's the cloak."

"What cloak?" Pansy leaned over his shoulder to see where he was pointing and sure enough, hanging off the back of the chair was a simple black cloak.

"Okay, so he left his cloak hanging on the chair, why is that important?"

"It's important because it's not his" Harry stated, "I knew Shacklebolt well enough to know he'd never leave his cloak hanging on the back of his chair, he was far too meticulous. And if you look you'll see the cloak itself is much too small, Kingsley was a very tall man."

"So, why's it there?"

"To complete the set" said Harry.

Pansy merely looked at him befuddled.

"Pansy, you know what I used to do for the minister?"

"The sort of things polite people don't talk about" she offered.

Harry nodded, "Yes, the sort of work one might call 'cloak' and 'dagger'."

Harry saw as the light came on and his lawyers expressing went from confused to shock.

"You mean…"

"It seems possible that someone knew what was going on and this is their way of saying 'I know what you did', that is one possibility" said Harry striking a thoughtful pose, "it's also possible that after I left the Minister attempted to replace me and this is how it ultimately turned out, the cloak and dagger in this case being a private joke. Then there is of course the third possibility."

"What's the third possibility" she was almost afraid to ask.

"That I'm reading too much into something that I've no intention of looking any further into anyway."

Pansy had to resist the urge to face-palm at that, it was something she found more than a little aggravating about her employer, his ability to jump so quickly from dead serious to dead 'not' serious.

"And what if it is someone who knows what you did?"

"So what if it is?" he retorted.

"You're not the least bit concerned that there might be an assassin out there with your name on their hit list?" she demanded with her best scowl.

"Not in the least" he replied, impervious to the scowl.

Before she could retort he held up his hand to stop her then turned a single icy eye in her direction. She felt a shiver run down her spine and suddenly understood what it meant to be a mouse staring into the eye of the cat.

"Pansy, I am going to tell you something that you don't know" he said with an eerie calm.

"Okay" she said with only a slight 'gulp'.

"There are two reasons I do not fear this person and they are, attitude, and history."

He turned his gaze away from her and she took a deep breath of relief before considering what he'd just said and coming to the obvious conclusion, "what the hell is that supposed to mean."

Harry grinned, "by leaving such obvious hints they're clearly very confident in their abilities, not just confident but cocky, arrogant, stupidly sure of themselves. That sort is seldom even half as good as they think they are."

"Alright so that's attitude, and history?"

"Would it surprise you to know that I've fought off assassins before?" He asked though didn't wait for an answer, "The first one was a month after Voldemort and periodically since then they'll pop up and take a shot at me. In fact I deal with at least one assassin on the anniversary every year, usual more."

"You and your curse" she muttered, "so you don't think someone who could sneak into the Ministers office in the heart of the Ministry might be able to get the drop on you?"

"Despite what some may believe the Ministry is not that well-guarded and the Minister's office is far from impenetrable. If they do come after me I'll put them in the same place I've put all the others."

Pansy groaned and shook her head. It really wasn't a surprise to know her employer, the 'infamous' dark lord slayer had people after his head, though it was disconcerting that he could be so laissez faire about the whole thing.

"Merlin I need a drink."

"Well your certainly in the right place" he teased, "though isn't it a bit early in the day for that sort of thing?"

"Oh stuff it you" she said and walked off in a huff.

Harry chuckled quietly to himself as he watched her walk off. Hated to see her go but loved to watch her leave.

"Man that is one crackin arse."


	15. 14 Making time

14 Making time

…

Round and round went the wheel, the wheel went round and round. Up and down went the walls, the walls went up and down. The walls went up as the wheel went round, round and round and the walls went down. Reaching out and falling in the walls did go and the wheel did spin.

…

Slow steady hands gently pushed and pinched the clay as it spun round on the wheel. He felt a certain satisfaction living up to his name in this way, Potter indeed. Bit by bit the bowl took form as he carefully pulled material from the center and drew it out further and further till it was finally the size he wanted it. With a few simple tools he then sculpted out the base and it was done, at least this stage of it.

He sat up after what seemed like hours releasing the built up tension in his back and looked across the room. There sat and easel with a large canvas set upon it. Visible from beneath the canvas was a very nice pair of legs in a pair of skin tight slacks. Harry admired them for a bit before remembering who they belonged to and why he probably shouldn't be doing that.

"All done over there?"

"Come and see" she replied, a soft lilt to her cultured voice.

Picking up his towel he wiped his hands as he walked around the canvas to see what there was to see.

"What do you think?"

It was him, in surprising detail, "I thought you were going to paint flowers" he said gesturing to the vase and its arrangement sitting off to the side.

"I found a more interesting subject" she smiled.

Harry shook his head, "Artists."

"Be nice" she chided.

"Couldn't even ask permission, I swear" he kept going, "ought to take up painting myself and then I could paint you without asking."

"I would ave to be in le nude" she said with an impish look, "tis se proper way after all."

Harry's eyes glazed over for just a moment before he forcibly snapped himself out of it, "Stop putting naughty thoughts into my head. Bad Fleur, bad."

"Oh Arry, still zo innocent" she teased, batting her eyelashes in that way beautiful women do.

"Innocent my foot, ought a show you who's innocent" he grumbled.

"Promises promises."

"Grrrrrrrr."

Fleur laughed that sweet bell like laugh that made most men shiver, Harry just stood there and pouted.

"Master."

The two turned their attention to the sudden appearance of a third party, "Yes K?" said Harry to the elf in the butler suit formerly known as Kreacher.

Clearing his throat, "The handsome young knight requests the aid of the mighty sorcerer in vanquishing the evil tentacle monster and saving the lovely princess" he declared grandly.

Fleur grinned.

"Finally, a situation I can actually handle" shouted Harry before stomping off.

"Are you saying I am too much for you to andle Arry" Fleur called after him.

"NO!" he shouted back which only made Fleur laugh.

…

"Hang in there Teddy."

"Do I have a choice?" shouted the young man as he hung upside down.

The vine holding him up couldn't be bothered to hold still of course and was swinging him back and forth as it flailed about its other appendages in menacing fashion.

"Well, that doesn't look good at all" said Harry, suddenly appearing out of nowhere.

The 'princess' was completely unfazed by this, "Mighty sorcerer, can you save him?"

He shook his head, "my powers will not allow me to intervene directly."

"But…" she protested but stopped when he handed her a small wooden sword.

"There comes a time for every princess when she must stop being a spectator in her own life and take charge, like a boss" he said, "now go, Princess up!"

The sweet innocent little girl roared like a filthy beast and charged in to save her knight. Harry watched the scene even as he heard the approaching footsteps and accompanying giggle.

"Princess up?"

"I thought it sounded badass" he defended.

Fleur just chuckled, "they are adorable, no?"

Harry nodded, "it's nice they can play so well together."

"We should do this more often."

At this Harry sighed, "I really wish we could" he said morosely, "you know when I decided I was going to University I had no idea it was going to be like this."

"It is very difficult" she was one of the few people that knew what Harry was up to.

"I suppose pursuing a double major in engineering and architecture may have been a bit much" he admitted, "Ya know that bowl I was working on is for my textiles class. Even my free time I spend on school work."

"You must not let it discourage you" the wise mother said, "Ze greatest trials in our lives oft lead to the greatest rewards" she said, absently touching her stomach as she stared at her little princess.

Harry, not the oblivious boy he once was, noticed the gesture. Reaching out he gently placed a palm against her abdomen, so much to her surprise that she didn't even comment on it until he'd removed the hand.

"What was that for?"

"Just checking something" he said with a casual smile, "Good to know Bill can still hit the target once and a while."

"What?"

"Come on Fleur, I don't think I should have to explain to you how babies are made."

The blonde stared dumbfounded, mouth agape at what she was being told.

"Uncle Harry!"

Harry looked away from the shocked woman to find the children both on the ground now but looking to be on the losing end of their battle with the Creeping tentacula.

"Call on the power of the awesome" he shouted.

"By the power of the awesome" shouted Teddy thrusting his sword into the air.

"By the power of the awesome" Victoire mimicked a moment later.

*flash**KRACKABOOM*

"Wicked!" they exclaimed together.

"Give 'em hell!"

With a roar of triumph the two children charged the viney beast with their now flaming swords while Harry was interrupted from watching by a hand on his shoulder.

"Harry, are you saying I'm…" she couldn't seem to even finish the thought.

"You mean you didn't know?" he seemed genuinely surprised.

"You're sure? How can you be sure?"

"It's a little aura trick I learned a while back" he explained, "normally when two aura's exist within a single person it means some sort of possession, unless the person happens to be female and the second aura is concentrated round here" he said gently rubbing the her abdomen.

"I… I…" she said, swaying precariously.

"Easy there" said Harry, supporting her body while her mind came to grips with what she was being told.

She steadied after a moment and looked him straight in the eye, "Baby?"

"Baby" he confirmed.

Slowly a smile crept across her face and then she began to laugh. Then she began to cry and all at once she grabbed him in a fierce hug, laughing and crying and babbling incoherently.

Harry was fine with that, it was nice to be the bearer of good news for once. And as he stood there holding the blubbering mother to be his own problems, just for a moment, seemed inconsequential. Sure he'd pay for it later but for now there was a new life to celebrate, and that was worth paying any price.


	16. 15 Things that go Boom

15 Things that go Boom

…

It's was interesting, Harry pondered, that he had apparently reached the point where a single glance could tell him all he needed to know to approach a situation. A man with a wand at a young girl's throat, that was a no brainer, gang of thugs holding down a beaten half naked girl, easy, maniac covered in blood surrounded by corpses with a glint of insanity in his eye, piece of cake.

It was then upon spotting his 'faithful' law expert draped across a high backed leather chair with a half empty glass of wine dangling from her hand and her cloths disheveled and falling off that Harry automatically knew something was wrong. Pansy was not known to drink, as it seemed to cause her cloths to fall off, and she was not the kind to drape herself across furniture. Something was definitely wrong.

Having just returned to Grimmauld Place from a late class he had been informed by an agitated K that Pansy was in the library and thus he had found her. She didn't seem to notice him enter nor as he quietly set down his pack and approached her on cat quiet feet.

"Pansy" he said.

Said woman looked up at him woozily, taking a moment before her alcohol addled brain fired up the proper synapses and a lazy grin spread across her face.

"Harry" she said dreamily, losing her grip on her glass as she crawled out of the chair.

The glass plummeted toward the floor only to stop just short before floating up to a nearby table. With barely a gesture Harry levitated the glass down and just in time as a drunken Pansy staggered into him, losing her small jacket as she wrapped her arms around his torso and began nuzzling his chest with her nose.

"Harry" she cooed as she tried to paste herself to him.

"Pansy" he said.

"Harry," she giggled, "I'm so happy to see you."

Oh boy, "Pansy, you've been drinking, haven't you?"

"Mmmmm, yes" she slurred happily.

"Why have you been drinking Pansy? You know what that does to you" he said, gently peeling her off so that he could look her in the face.

She didn't like that, her expression turning sour as she forcibly removed herself form his grasp, "What of it, I can drink if I want to, you can't tell me what to do."

"I'm not telling you what to do Pansy" his tone remaining calm and neutral.

She was not placated, "You know what, I'm not happy to see you anymore, go away."

He could have pointed out that it was his house and he didn't have to go away but that would have been completely counterproductive and might well have made her try to leave which, given her current state, could only end badly.

"Pansy" he said placing a hand on her shoulder which was promptly jerked away.

Letting out a quiet sigh Harry took up the seat she had recently vacated, "Pansy, come sit with me."

She pointedly turned away, "No" she said obstinately.

"Pansy, please come sit with me" he said, continuing to stare at her even as she pretended to ignore him.

"I don't want to" she said petulantly, her body language however showing signs of uncertainty.

"Pansy" he said again, waiting till she turned just enough to look at him, "please come sit with me."

She acquiesced, still frowning a bit she staggered over to him and almost fell into his lap where she proceeded to curl up like a frightened child. She seemed so small he thought, so fragile.

"What's the matter Pansy?"

"Nothing" she sulked quietly.

"Pansy" he chided gently, stroking the back of her neck with his thumb in a calming fashion, "you wouldn't be drinking if something wasn't bothering you, I know you're too smart for that."

Drunk or sober, flattery was always the fastest way to get Pansy to talk. Even so she seemed reluctant, nuzzling against his neck. Then, when he began to wonder if she'd fallen asleep, she began to talk.

"I met someone tonight" she started.

"Oh."

"He was an Arab" she continued, "he barged into the restaurant I was eating at, the little Italian place."

"Mindy's?"

"Yeah. I don't remember what he all said, everyone was shocked and I think it was mostly meant for the men who came in with him. Then one of the wait staff tried to ask him to leave."

Uh oh, Harry had a sneaking suspicion where this story was headed.

"He yelled something at the waiter in some weird language then threw a spell at him before he could even reply."

She went silent, curling up tighter and pressing herself as far into him as she could.

"What happened then" he prodded as gently as he could.

"He exploded" she said, her voice a bit strained, "just, exploded, boom."

She kept talking, her tone taking a slight hysterical edge to it, "someone screamed, then he made them explode, then everyone started screaming and then they all started exploding. Then the aurors showed up and he tried to make them explode to. He got three of them before they got lucky and got two of his. Just before they disappeared he did something to them, the two the aurors got, and when he was gone they started glowing and then BOOM!"

Her exclamation was followed by a short bout of hysterical laughter, Harry just kept rubbing her neck and listening to her tale.

"It was huge, and they went flying everywhere, I mean everywhere, I think one their heads got lodge in the ceiling."

Harry internalized everything he'd just been told as Pansy fell into a sort of loop. He was fully aware of the trouble going on in the Middle East and the ever growing influx of foreign nationals leaving there to peacefully invade Western Europe. It really came as no surprise that there would be magical as well as non-magical refugees. Perhaps it was his jaded nature but it came as even less surprise to learn at least a small group seemed to importing their jihadi brand of terrorism as well.

"Just boom, and they were everywhere and… Harry?"

"Yes Pansy" he said looking into the frightened eyes of the tiny girl in his lap.

"That could have been me" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes, "I don't want to explode Harry, I don't want to explode."

"I'll take care of it" he said.

"You promise?"

"I promise" he said, there was no question, no uncertainty, he would take care of it.

His resolve calmed her and she lay her head down on his chest and for a time was silent.

"Harry" she said after several minutes.

"Yes Pansy."

"Take me to bed" she said.

He sighed, "Must I?"

"Yes."


	17. 16 The public eye

16 The Public Eye

…

It was early in Diagon Alley as a man in a simple gray hooded cloak strolled down the street. He was nondescript in every sense of the word, nothing of his face visible thanks to the hood and nothing about his cloths saying you should give me a second look. That was the point after all.

The figure approached a building with an absurdly flamboyant sign giving a quick glance around to be sure no one was watching he took a small key from his sleeve and unlocked the door before sliding silently inside. The interior was much the same as the exterior, an absolute riot of color and, had anything been on, sound as well. The figure breathed a sigh of relief as he reset the lock so no one else would be able to follow him in.

He'd barely been there a moment when there was a clamor from the back and a gangly red haired man staggered out. The hooded figure watched as the proprietor of the gaudy establishment fished a pair of glasses from his vest pocket and placed them on the bridge of his nose before turning to look at him.

"Oy, who are you now?" he said, "how'd you get in here?" was his follow up.

"Your security leaves something to be desired" the figure said in a hollow rasping voice.

"Think so do you" said the red haired man with a wicked gleam in his eye.

Before the figure could retort there was an explosion of color above his head and for a moment his disappeared from view, surrounded by a corona of color and a cacophony of sound, also a variety of paint.

The red haired man cackled like a lunatic, "How do ya like that then" he taunted but was suddenly dismayed when the smoke cleared and all that remained was a paint covered cloak.

"Oh honestly George" the sudden voice right next to his ear sent him flailing to the ground, "you are such a child."

George sat and the floor panting for a moment trying to get his heart to stop leaping in his chest, "dammit Harry, how do you dooooooo that?"

Harry, in black slacks and shirt and minus one no longer gray cloak said, "That's for me to know and you to find out isn't it."

Harry offered his hand to the fallen ginger who grudgingly took it, "Yeah, and one of these days I will figure it out, just you watch."

Harry just chuckled, it was good to see George in such high spirits.

"So what was with the cloak anyway, ya know Angie'll have a fit if she catches you wearing something like that?"

"Something like what?"

Both men looked as the aforementioned Angelina Weasley joined them in the shop, walking in that awkward gait so many women do in the later stages.

Harry smiled at his old teammate, "Angie."

"Harry" she smiled back wrapping him up in a big hug despite the protrusion in her middle.

"And baby" said Harry patting her distended belly, "I swear there must be something in the air these days, everywhere I go babies babies babies."

"I think most would call it relief" said the Mrs. Weasley, "and we have you to thank for that."

"Please Angie let's not start on this" begged Harry, he really didn't need to hear this one again.

"Really Harry we mean it" added George, "I don't think people have been so scared since Voldemort."

"The 'Heir of Muhammed' was no Voldemort" countered Harry flippantly, "and I don't even consider Voldemort to have been all that bad nowadays."

"You might not, but we can't all be super dark lord slayers Harry" said Angelina with an impish grin.

"Oh now you're just teasin me" he grumbled.

"Maybe a little" she admitted hugging him again.

"Really though Harry, we were kinda surprised you got involved after what you said back then" said George, referring to the discussion they'd had just before he'd resigned as the Ministers black cat.

"It wasn't my intention to handle it like I did" he admitted, "It was just a matter of timing. I was there, he popped up, it was either deal with him or watch him murder innocent civilians. Hardly a choice at all really."

"Quite a fight from what we heard."

"Not really" said Harry, "I had his blow people up spells all figured out before I'd even met him so that was child's play to counter, the only surprise was his end gambit when he blew himself up, bloody bonkers there's just no way around it."

"Sorta makes you wonder what makes a person like that" said Angelina.

"Yeah, I know I complain about our culture a lot but after seeing this guy, I am fully convinced there are worse" said Harry with finality.

"Well, the important thing is he's gone and we can get back to life" said George.

"And prepare to welcome the new ones" agreed Harry, "which brings us to why I'm here. You said the stuff I wanted came in."

"Oh right" George perked up, disappearing into the back.

"What came in?" asked Angelina.

"Just some things I needed that were easier for George to get through his connections" said Harry.

"Oh, and what might these things be for" she queried with a raised brow.

"Fleur" he said, and the brow went right back down.

"I'd heard she was having trouble with her pregnancy."

Harry nodded, "Something is wrong, the baby's aura isn't strengthening like it should be, the little one needs help."

"When did you become a healer?" she teased playfully and was shocked by the serious face turned toward her.

"The healers claim she's imaging it all, their completely worthless" he spat.

"So, what are you going to do?" she asked quietly, not wanting to make him any angrier.

"Whatever it takes to make sure that little light isn't extinguished before we ever get to see it" he said.

Angelina looked at the serious man before her, in many ways so different from the boy she remembered yet in others exactly the same. For the third time since he'd arrived she wrapped her arms around him.

"You really are a hero Harry, you just can't help it" she said.

"You're teasing me again" he replied quietly.

"Not even a little" she said and hugged him a little tighter.


	18. 17 Old friend New friend

17 Old friends, new friends

…

"Again I really must thank you for having us."

It wasn't often Harry had guests, certainly not invited guests, certainly not invited guests he actually wanted to see. It had been an interesting letter from longtime acquaintance Luna Lovegood, as if a correspondence from her would be anything less, which had brought about the evening. She had been married to Rolf Scamander for several years and while they'd met briefly in passing a handful of times he'd never gotten to sit down and talk with the man.

When Luna had said they had something of a personal matter they wished to discuss with him he considered it the perfect opportunity to do just that. He'd dismissed Kreacher from the kitchen for the evening and prepared the meal himself to rave revues from both husband and wife. They'd sat and discussed a wide array of topics which, much to Harry's relief, had not included dark lords and those who slay them.

Now they sat in the library, sipping at drinks and making small talk.

"Harry, what is that fascinating array on the floor?" Luna asked.

"Just part of something I'm working on" he said, "the library is the only room with enough floor space right now."

"Ritual of some kind" Rolf pondered, "Very complex by the look of it."

"I've yet to find one that isn't" replied Harry, "Though strictly speaking it isn't a ritual, its alchemical. I'm working on something for an expecting mother whose have some trouble with her pregnancy."

"Funny you should mention that" said Luna.

"Mention what?" said Harry.

"Mention what?" said Luna.

Harry grinned at the quirky little blond, "Funny I should mention what?"

"Yes that's what I said" she nodded, "funny you should mention babies."

'So that's what it is' thought Harry with a chuckle, "So I take it the two of you are expecting."

"Expecting what?" she asked.

Harry gave her a wry grin, "Luna, it's just the three of us, you can stop that."

The blonde looked surprised for a moment before blushing prettily and looking down, "I'm sorry Harry, I just can't help it sometimes."

"I know" he said smoothly without complaint or accusation.

Harry was one of the few people who knew Luna on a personal level and understood why she was the way she was. That understanding allowed him to see through the 'Looney' exterior to the timid yet loving girl underneath.

"I do apologize Harry" said Rolf putting an arm around his wife, "she's been ever so nervous about having this conversation."

"No need to apologize" said Harry, an island of calm, "It's like I was saying the other day, there must be something in the air, seems like everyone I know has a baby on the way."

"Well you see, that's sort of the problem we're having" said Rolf nervously.

"Oh."

"Yes, you see Luna very much wants a baby, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't find some appeal with the idea as well" said Rolf to which Harry just grinned, "It's just getting it started is where we're running into problems."

'He certainly was beating round the bush', Harry thought, "So, what, can't get the soldier to stand at attention" indelicate but succinct.

"Well I suppose that could be considered 'part' of the problem" said Rolf, as evasive as a sparrow.

Harry sighed, "I understand this must be embarrassing to discuss but I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is."

Rolf seemed to search for words which left it to Luna to say it plainly, "Rolf isn't attracted to me."

This statement seemed to deflate the man though he made no move to deny it.

"So he's not attracted to you 'personally' or he's not attracted to women in general."

"Yes" said Luna, which made Harry groan, "sorry."

"So your husband is gay" Harry surmised.

"No, I'm not attracted to men either" said Rolf, looking rather like a whipped dog.

Harry looked a bit squeamish, "you're attracted to… animals?"

This seemed to shock him out of his stupor, "Oh no, no nothing like that" he said gesturing frantically.

"As much as we can tell he isn't attracted to anything" said Luna.

"As far as I know I possess no sexual urges of any kind, never have" he confessed somewhat shamefully.

Harry was confused, "so then, why marry?"

"Oh our marriage was never about physical attraction" said Rolf.

"Shared interest, mutual respect" said Luna, "Love came later."

"And please don't misunderstand, I do love her very much, we wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case."

Harry looked at the two for a while as he mentally put the facts together, "Alright, I believe I understand the problem, unfortunately I am not seeing exactly how I can help."

"Just say you will, please" the puppy dog eyes were at full power.

"If I can" he agreed hesitantly.

Rolf seemed relieved while Luna looked like she might fly across the floor and kiss him.

"I take it you have something in mind" he was almost afraid to ask what.

"Oh yes" said Rolf with surprising enthusiasm, "once we figured out I was incapable of the necessary activity it simply became a matter of finding someone we could trust who was."

'Oh shit', "Please tell me you aren't asking me to have sex with your wife?"

"Don't you think I'm attractive Harry?"

'Dammit, now she's using the tears', "Your very attractive Luna, but you're not 'my' wife. And if I did have sex with you the children wouldn't be Rolf's."

"Well actually", 'god dammit', "we took that into consideration and we've come up with a spell that will substitute my seed for yours so that they will be mine."

Harry was practically speechless. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Learning about Rolf's lack of 'drive' was strange enough but this, what was he supposed to say to this.

Luna, clever girl that she was, saw the war going on behind his eyes and, being the sort of girl to go out and get what she wanted, decided to take matters into her own hands. Gracefully she rose from the sofa and sauntered over to the chair where Harry sat. Without invitation she straddled him and got nose to nose with the most powerful mage in Britain.

"Harry" she said in a sultry purr, "I want a baby Harry. Won't you please help me make a baby Harry?"

'Oh shit, when did sweet innocent little Luna turn into such a vixen? Don't look her in the eye, don't look her in the… aw dammit.

Like a deer in the headlights he froze, and that was all she needed.

…

"Harry, you in here?"

"Oh, hello."

Pansy looked at the strange man sitting with a book in his lap, "who're you?"

"Ah, Rolf Scamander, how do you do?"

"Where's Harry" she asked, ignoring her manners with the strange intruder.

A sound of something being dragged across the floor came from the far side of the book cases drawing both their attention.

"That'd probably be them right now."

Confused by the odd sounds she began to hear she asked, "Who is them?"

"Oh, Harry and my wife Luna."

Pansy only knew one woman named Luna that Harry was acquainted with, "Lovegood."

"Well it was Lovegood before we were married."

Right, well that answered that, but the continued noise left one question burning to be answered, "What exactly are they doing over there."

Before Rolf could answer someone else cried out, "YES! OH SWEET MERLIN YES!"

"Making a baby" said Rolf as though he hadn't just heard his wife scream out in ecstasy.

"Huh" was all Pansy's poor shocked brain could come up with.

"He's really very good at this" said Rolf as though he were commenting on the weather, "that's the third time she's done that in the past half hour."

Pansy had no reply for such a statement. What manner of absurdity had he gotten himself into this time? Oh sweet Merlin why, WHY?

"Oh Harry, harder, harder Harry!"

"Uuuugh, I am much to sober for this nonsense!"


	19. 18 International problem solver

18 International problem solver

…

It was dank and dark as crypts so often tend to be. Mumbled chanting echoed against the old stone walls and shaking the ancient brittle bones that lay about from those who had been disinterred at some point and left forgotten on the cold heartless ground. Vermin of every size scamper and skitter about in the shadows of torchlight, unaccustomed to such in the deep earth among the forgotten dead.

Men in black robes stand like sentinels, holding their torches casting light into the inky black but only making it all the more ominous as shadows dance against the walls. One man, black clad as the rest, stands near an alter in the center of the floor ritualistically preparing a dagger. On the alter itself lay a naked girl, sixteen or seventeen, bound at the wrists and ankles, quaking from both cold and fear.

She stared fearfully at the man with the dagger, a man who until two days ago she had thought she knew. Her beloved, her confidant, her kidnapper, and, if what she was seeing was right, her slayer as well. It was the sort of experience that could break a young woman's heart, although given the circumstances this was probably the least of her concerns.

"Please, don't do this" she begged, having little else she could do.

The man appeared to ignore her and continued preparing his blade.

"I thought you loved me, why are you doing this?" tears fell freely as she tried to understand.

"Because" he said, turning his gaze on her naked body, "you were perfect."

"Please" she begged, terrified beyond rational thought.

"Oh don't be like that, we all have a higher calling to answer, this is yours" he said grandly.

"You're going to kill me" she accused.

"And through your death I shall summon a force more powerful than anything on earth. With it I shall conquer this world and all upon it."

"But why me?"

"A combination of things really, your birthday, the signs surrounding it and by extension you, even the fact that you were still a virgin were all important in the selection. You were perfect, a perfect little lamb, waiting to be slaughtered" he grinned maliciously.

"Please don't."

"Oh please do have some dignity. This is undoubtedly the high point in your existence. You'll finally be doing something productive with your life instead of frittering it away and being a burden on everyone around you like every other vapid empty headed rich girl I've ever known."

"My lord, we're ready" said a cloaked man, hunched over like the craven he clearly was.

"Excellent" the man said, "then let us begin."

Hearing this command the chanters sped their pace, faster and faster till the words seemed to melt away into an incoherent buzzing sound. The man with the knife approached the altar with a confident gate, taking a perverse pleasure as his victim squirmed and mewled in fear. This was his moment.

He raised the dagger over her struggling form with a savage look of glee on his face and with all his strength plunged the dagger into her chest…

Plunged the dagger into her chest…

Plunged… the dagger… into… her chest…

He knew what he was doing, he could see it in his mind's eye, plunge the dagger into her chest…

Reality was a bit different than his imagination and he struggled and grunted as the dagger remained aloft despite all the weight along with the forces of gravity demanding it descend. The dagger was above these things however and hung in the air as the man holding it trying frantically to bring it down.

When those watching began to suspect something might be wrong they were given undeniable confirmation when there was an odd 'thud' and all of a sudden one of their number was yanked back into the shadows.

"Grrrrr, what is, the meaning of this" their leader fumed as he hung off the accursed dagger which stubbornly refused to moved.

"Isn't it obvious" replied a chipper voice that echoed throughout the entire crypt.

"Who are you, I demand to know who you are?"

"Oh well if you demand" the voice replied in a patronizing tone, "then I suppose I must acquiesce."

An obnoxious chuckled followed this pronouncement then as quick as the first another of the obliviously standing men vanished into the darkness with a startled shriek.

"Show yourself, I demand…"

"My but we are high on ourselves aren't we" the voice taunted, "I demand, I demand, ya know what, here's an idea, why don't you try and make me you pathetic little nancy boy."

The next one dragged away wasn't quick like the first two. He was knocked forward onto his face then pulled viciously into oblivion screaming the entire way.

"You dare" he was apoplectic with fury, but still hanging off the floating dagger.

"Sure seems that way."

The sudden appearance of his adversary casually leaning against the alter right in front of him was enough to put the man off balance like the disappearance of his men could not. He finally released the dagger and took a staggering step back almost falling over his craven minion in the process.

"You…"

"Me" the dark haired man agreed.

"What are you doing here, how dare you interfere" he shouted regaining some of his bravado.

"A bit slow on the uptake are we" the interloper mocked which made the man seethe.

"Sir, please, please help me" the girl pleaded, making a frantic gamble joining the conversation.

A gamble which paid off in her favor, "No worries love, that's what I'm here for" the man said while never letting the other man out of his sight, "it's what your mum hired me for."

This information filled the poor girl with a great sense of relief while having much the opposite effect on her would be murder.

"Who are you, I demand to know who you are" he commanded bombastically.

"If it'll make you stop asking" said the man producing a dagger from nowhere that seemed to glow darkness, if that made any sense, "My name is Harry Potter, rescuer of damsels, vanquisher of evil, and all round busy body or so my reputation says."

This revelation shocked everyone in the room, "Harry Potter" the lead cultist exclaimed, "what are you doing in Germany."

"The first one obviously" he said as though speaking to a slow child, "rescuing damsels."

With two quick swipes of his blade her binds were cut and then all hell broke loose.

"STOP HIM!"

"Oh bother" complained Harry with no visible concern, "Love would you sit tight just a sec I have to kill some people."

Having said it he then put words into action. His dagger flew from his hand like an arrow fatally embedding itself in a hooded skull. The others paid the death of their comrade less than a glance as they swarmed toward Harry. The first within range found Harry suddenly right in his face which was then just as quickly covered by Harry's hand. The man didn't even have time to think on the bit of metal on the finger when his entire head was filled with an electric charge akin to a lightning bolt, and, like most things hit with lightning bolts, it exploded.

Harry ignored the heavily singed gore that now covered him as he sidestepped a torch swung at him like a club and came back with blinding speed striking his opponent in the temple, knocking him off balance. He followed up the dazing blow with a quick transfiguration and a boot in the man's ass which sent him falling into the razor sharp spikes that hadn't been there a moment before.

The next three came together, two wielding their torches and the third having produced a dagger, but no wands. For a ritual as complex as they were attempting they couldn't risk having them for fear of contaminating the whole thing. Bad for them, good for Harry.

Palming a trio of marbles he produced from his sleeve he banished them at his would be attackers. The small capsules exploded upon contact with terrific force sending all three of them hurtling in the opposite direction and then it was over.

"No, no no no no no NO! This isn't what was supposed to happen. How dare you, you meddling…"

"Oh quit yur damn whining" said Harry, not the least bit impressed with the petulant little man, "Here, if it'll make you feel any better…"

With a slight gesture the dagger that had vexed him turned in the air and shot at him like it had been fired from a gun. The cultist barely even had time to register the object hurtling toward him before it connected, burying itself in his chest and piercing the pitiful organ that was his heart. The force of impact threw him to the ground and barely a moment later he was already dead.

"MASTER!" the craven minion, still alive, wailed, kneeling down to weep over his dead master.

Harry ignored them for a more pressing, and more shapely, matter.

"Well then, sorry that took so long" he casually addressed the still naked girl as though he hadn't just committed numerous homicides in barely the span of a minute.

"That was… you're" unsurprising she was a bit shell shocked by what she'd just witnessed.

"It's best you just try not to think about it" he said, forcing her to focus on him, "we'll get you out of her and back home and you can just forget this whole nasty business ever happened" he said with a winning smile.

Her return smile was meek and shy but given the circumstances that was to be expected. Of course that was when the universe decided it wasn't done with him for the day and a terrified scream filled the chamber. Harry turned to see a massive red arm protruding from a thick crimson cloud. The scream had come from the craven minion who found himself gripped in a powerful clawed hand almost as big as he was that was slowly crushing his frail body into a pulpy mess.

"Oh bollocks" complained Harry, more annoyed than anything else.

"What is that?" the understandably terrified girl shrieked.

"Not something you want to stick around for" he said pulling a small device from his pocket and forcibly placing it into her hands, "Take this, follow the arrow, it'll lead you out of here. Once you reach the surface press the button in the center."

"But what're you going to do?"

"Deal with that" he said gesturing to the now dead craven and the shoulder that had just forced its way into their universe, "Now go."

For a moment she was transfixed with terror at the thing emerging from the tear in reality but a quick swat across her bottom got her moving and the roar that filled the chamber made sure she wouldn't look back as the four armed goat headed demon finished forcing itself into their world

"Bloody Mondays" Harry griped.


	20. 19 Wine and Death

19 Wine and Death

…

"So you see Mr. Potter you simply must hand over the artifact at once, you cannot keep it."

Harry looked at the tall gangly intellectual with no small amount of boredom and disdain. He'd been listening to the French unspeakable attempt to force him to relinquish the powerful Necromantic talisman he'd liberated on his last job when he'd saved the French minister of Magic's daughter from her Necromancer boyfriend and his coven. The pathetic scarecrow wasn't having any luck.

"You must understand there are laws about these things and you are not above the law."

Harry could have laughed at that but managed to stifle it. The French may have played at being more 'civilized' than their cousins across the channel but the fact of the matter was politicians and bureaucrats were the same no matter where you went. If you were powerful enough you could do whatever you wanted, you were only beholden to the law if they could stop you.

No unspeakable in Britain would have ever dared take him to task and it wasn't because he was famous, it was because he was infamous. Two dark lords in less than ten years, and he wasn't a goat faced geriatric people thought they could plot into a corner, he was a wrecking ball and they knew it. This pathetic twig of a man apparently did not. Either that or he simply had a very inflated sense of self-worth.

"Now Mr. Potter I demand you comply at once."

"No" Harry replied politely.

He tried not to laugh when the self-important twat choked and started sputtering but it was soooooo hard.

"Well, there's his answer, I told you he wouldn't give it up" said the Minister who'd sat quietly throughout the entire harangue.

"Minister really, I understand he saved your daughter but that does not put him above the law" the furious unspeakable fumed, currently turning a red in the face Harry called Vernon #6.

"He's right Minister" Harry said surprising the two, "I'm not above the law because I saved your daughter" he paused for a moment to let it sink in, "I'm above the law because you can't make me follow it if I don't want to" he made sure to sound extra smug when he said this.

As expected, the unspeakable didn't take it very well, "I could have every auror in this building come in here and arrest you."

"You could have every person in this building come in here and try and arrest me, and they would all fail."

"You overestimate your ability's" the gangly man seethed.

"And I suppose you think you could take me yourself" Harry taunted, stringing the not so smart man along.

"You'd be surprised by what I can do" he replied with a wicked smile.

"No I wouldn't" Harry said simply, "I've fought pompous intellectuals like you before. You think you're so very smart that no one could possibly compete on your intellectual level. And while you stood their blowing hot air I've been sitting here identifying the twenty seven artifacts you have on your person, determining their effects and deciding how to best counter them."

He took some satisfaction from the look of shock on both men's faces. It was always fun putting the teacher's lounge intellectuals in their place when they tried to challenge him. Sure they could recite theory verbatim but he could apply those theories to real life, and he could do it without being a self-righteous prick. He just did that to provoke them, never failed either.

Getting over his shock the unspeakable pretended calm, "You know what, I think your bluffing."

With surprising speed he pulled a star shaped talisman from his pocket and thrust it at Harry. A flash of power flew at Harry who sat unmoving, just watching. The force took him clean in the chest.

*CLANG*

"What?"

Harry just grinned which made the gangly man's blood run cold. He dropped the talisman and went for another while Harry stood, picked up his chair and promptly smashed it over the man's head. Not surprisingly he crumpled to the floor like a paper sack, unconscious.

"Sorry bout the chair" said Harry.

"Yes, well, I should really be the one apologizing to you" said the Minister, staring at his unconscious employee.

"Oh I wouldn't worry about it, they tried to do this in Germany too with the carcass of that demon I killed. As if I'd trust something like that in the hands of self-important control freaks like him."

…

"Your room is right this way monsieur" said the petite maid.

Harry said nothing, choosing instead to admire the young lady in front of him as she walked. He knew he should probably be keeping better track of his surroundings but really, she was just so much more fun to look at.

"I have made your bed personally, I hope you like it" she said meekly.

"Personally I'd be more interested in having you unmake it, with a little help."

The glanced back at him with a hint of red in her cheeks, she'd gotten his meaning.

"You are a naughty boy monsieur Potter" she said.

"I've been called that" he didn't deny.

The doors they stopped at were unassuming and plain, "here we are" she said.

"I'll bet its dark inside" he said childishly, "you'll have to come in with me, I'm afraid of the dark you know."

"I do not believe that for a second" she replied.

"Probably a good reason for that" he said with a chuckle, swinging the left door wide open.

His danger sense pinged a moment too late as the silken cord wrapped round his wrist and with amazing forced dragged him into the room. Others were quick to follow, latching on and pulling this way and that. For a time the whole room seemed to spin and then just as suddenly as it started it stopped and he found himself balled up in a cocoon of silk hanging upside down from the ceiling.

Taking in his surroundings at a glance he came to an instant conclusion, "this is either really good, or really bad."

"Oh Arry you have no idea" said a sultry voice.

Turning his head ever so slightly he spotted his captor, a tall leggy blond radiating an aura of pure lust and staring at him hungrily.

"Do I know you?" she looked terribly familiar, the face anyway, he was fairly sure he'd never seen the rest and that was not the sort of thing he was likely to forget.

She pouted at this, by all the gods was it hot, "I suppose I should not be surprised" she said giving a melancholic sigh which did the most fascinating things with her anatomy, "I was shall we say 'shorter' when you last saw me at my sister's wedding."

'Ooooooh crap', he'd only been at the wedding of one woman who radiated attraction like this woman was doing, "Gabrielle."

Her smile practically lit up the room, "Oh Arry!" she exclaimed, sashaying forward and pulling his head into her cleavage, "you ave no idea ow long I ave waited for this moment."

Temporarily dazed by his position and the curious aroma he'd discovered between her breasts he was saved by yet another female.

"Now now my angel, do not keep him all to yourself."

"Of course ma petite'."

Harry stared in disbelief, the dark haired little maid who had but moments ago scolded him for flirting was now wrapped around the half-naked veela giving him the most salacious look. My but that was an awfully big blind spot he had.

"Ee is rather cute, isn't ee" said the maid.

"The thing little girls dreams are made of" agreed Gabrielle running her tongue across her lips in a way that made Harry gulp, "And I ave dreamed of this day for so long Arry. When Fleur told me you were coming I was so excited I could barely contain myself."

"It's true" the maid confirmed which earned her a playful swat from the veela girl.

"Of course, getting you here" she said gesturing to the room around them, "was a bit tricky, but thanks to Collette" and here she gave the maid a little peck on the cheek, "here we all are."

"You cannot escape Harry Potter."

"Do not try to resist Arry, we wouldn't want to have to punish you."

The look she gave him made Harry quite sure she would in fact like to punish him and while he was tempted to point out he could quite easily escape any time he wanted there was one very important thing to consider. He was a man being propositioned by two attractive willing women who would doubtlessly tell everyone and their grandmother if ran away.

While he usually didn't care what people said about him, there were some things he refused to have people calling into question, his masculinity for example.

'Just once I'd like to be the one to initiate one of these encounters, just once.'


	21. 20 House of Green

20 House of green

…

Bright sunny days, despite popular belief they do happen in Great Britain, maybe not in London but the Potter families ancestral lands is far from there. It was in this small valley in Wales hidden amidst the woods in a place somewhat forgotten by most that the Potter family first settled when they came to the isles and it was in this place that his Grandparents, the last Lord and Lady Potter made their final stand against the dark.

As a child his father was raised among the woods and hills and had he survived to raise his son it's likely he, Harry, would have been as well. But this was not to be, both because his father did not survive and because his ancestral home suffered a similar fate. The Potters had been staunch defenders of the people and the light for as long as people could remember, was it any surprise the death eaters threw everything they had into seeing the place destroyed.

When Harry had first come there had been nothing ruins. Several small buildings that had once stood were nothing but overgrown foundations with traces of old burnt out wood yet to be found. The House proper was a broken skeleton overrun with ivy, the fate of fallen giants on display for the birds to see. It was gone now, Harry had torn it all out, even the foundations.

Now there was only the land and what he decided to build upon it. And for his first major project he'd decided to build a greenhouse. That was why he stood up on the ladder with screws and nails, fitting pieces into place over the glass panels of the ceiling.

It was his first major construction project, putting his two years of higher education, thus far, to good use. He'd even brought Pansy out that day for company. She had thrown down a long lawn chair, stripped down to a smashing black bikini, and had then proceeded to sun herself for the past two hours, moving only once after the first hour to flip over onto her back and sun her front. It was fortunate for Harry he was working with his back to her or he'd be getting absolutely nothing accomplished.

"Ya know, I don't see why people complain about working so much, I find it quite relaxing" she announced out of the blue.

Harry resisted the urge to retort, it was what she wanted, instead throwing out his own non-sequitur, "You shouldn't lie in the sun so long you know, you'll get burned."

He couldn't see it but he could practically hear the grin spread across her face, "we wouldn't want that would we?" she said with far too much enthusiasm, "You'll just have to come down her and rub oil all over me so I don't get burned. Harry, come down her and rub oil all over me."

Several images flashed through his head and he dropped a nail because of it, "dammit" he cursed pretending not to hear her chuckling at him, "remind me why I decided to bring you out here?"

"Because I improve the scenery" she declared.

He couldn't argue with that. Not that the scenery needed improving, the view was magnificent but as he glanced back he had to admit, putting her into it did making it better, just a little bit.

For a moment it looked as though he might surrender and actually do as he'd been ordered he was saved as a large shadow crossed the ground followed shortly after by the massive body that cast it coming in for a landing. It had been an easy thing to make the purchase of Little Beak, his old flying mate, from Wren. What had not been easy was getting her to stop flirting with him long enough to do business and not simply jump into bed. He was a man of standards after all, dinner first, then the nightcap.

Unless they did like Gabrielle Delacour and her friend Collette and tied him up, that was different.

"Harry, the horse bird is back" she complained.

"I see that" he said holding back a chuckle.

"What does it want?" she whined as it rubbed its head against her.

"Probably one of the weasels I brought" said Harry.

"Well give it to him!"

"There in the bag next to your chair" said Harry with a vindictive smirk.

Pansy gave an exasperated groan while reaching for the leather messenger bag. Little Beak pranced about excitedly when she pulled the dead furry rodent from the bag and snapped it right out of the air when she carelessly tossed it away. Reward in beak he trotted off to the little shelter Harry had built in lieu of the proper stable he intended to build eventually.

"Isn't this the bag you carry your school things around in?"

"Not right now" he said, putting the last nail into place and heading down the ladder.

"Probably want to wash it out before you do so it doesn't smell like dead vermin" she quipped.

"I'll do that" he replied, unconcerned.

"When do you go back anyway?"

"Next week" he replied, "I'll probably pop onto campus before that to get some things squared away, check my class schedule and all that."

"Not to mention stake out all the young nubile coed's to be joining the student 'body' this year" she remarked with a salacious grin.

"You know, my life does not revolve around sex" he frowned.

"That's not how it looks from where I'm sitting Mr. who knew you could get rope burns from silk."

Harry scowled, "you are so obnoxious some times."

He scowled harder when she blew him a kiss for his remark.


	22. 21 Cursed Anniversary

21 Cursed Anniversary

…

If there was one thing Harry had come to accept in the ten years since his defeat of Voldemort it was this, anniversaries sucked. They sucked hard, they sucked long, they were quite simply a pain in the arse. So it was that he had wandered out that night after, what he considered, the mild annoyance of dealing with a band of ninja's sent to kill him, thinking he'd dealt with that years anniversary and planning to have a nice drink, maybe grab a bite, and come back once the bodies had been disposed of.

To the best of his knowledge, he had must have added a few points to his plan sometime into the evening since he awoke the next morning, in bed, a twiggy blonde on his left arm sleeping with an adorable scowl on her face, and a pale skinned dark haired 'voluptuous' woman on his right, grinning like the cat who got the canary.

Confused, Harry dove into the fortress of his mind and went hunting for the memory of the previous evening. Finding it was easy, viewing it proved pointless. Somewhere around the third beer things began to bet fuzzy and after the fourth it was nothing but static. It did however tell him one thing, he hadn't been attacked with magic, unless one counted the power of a remarkably well displayed pair of breasts to be magic. He was still debating the subject.

The blonde was the first to wake, Harry returned to the world just in time to see it happen. Her eyes fluttered, she saw him, and the pretty scowl she'd been wearing turned into something a bit more angry. Fantastic.

The dark haired one followed a moment later though she didn't open her eyes right away, she yawned, stretched, then rolled on top of him, lifting herself up with her hands on his chest. She opened her eyes, smiled, wiggled her bottom in a highly distracting manner and said…

"Ready for another round."

While the blonde growled all Harry could think was, 'what a way to start the day.'

…

Coffee, ambrosia of the gods, it was an odd thing to say, Harry thought, given who he was sharing it with. Death, as she had been introduced, the pale skinned dark haired beauty now dressed in a pair of black jeans and a magnificent black corset that did just wonderful things with her ample bosom sipped hers with some relish. Fate, the twiggy blonde model type who was dressed far to extravagantly for the situation in a long red dress like you'd be likely to find on a runway, held her own cup with both hands, glaring at him while occasionally sipping.

And he, well, he was just wondering what he'd done to deserve it. It was difficult to believe he was really sitting at his dining room table with the physical personifications of supposedly greater powers but there was some credence to the claim. Their aura's for example were absurdly compact, unlike a normal humans which seemed transparent to his aura sight both of theirs appeared perfectly solid, something that would be impossible were they human, or so experience had taught him.

There was of course also just the general feel of both of them. Distracted at the time now that they were all dressed he could feel the weight of their power, being sensitive to that sort of thing after years of honing his instincts there was no doubt in his mind that either of the women in front of him could have defeated Voldemort in fact, he dare say they would have not only beaten him they would have spanked his ass like an unruly child, it really was just mind-blowing the difference.

"Excuse me Harry" said Death sweetly.

His musings interrupted, "Yes?"

"May I have some more?" she asked, holding up her cup.

Harry chuckled a bit, pouring the personification of Death another cup of coffee.

"Ya know, you're not what I expected 'Death' to be" he admitted.

Death simply grinned, "I get that a lot."

"Alright enough of this inane chatter, we're here for a reason" said Fate tersely.

Death shook her head and sighed, "You'll have to forgive Fate, she hasn't been properly socialized around humans."

Fate scowled at the insult which just made Death grin.

"I suppose you've seen everyone once in their lives" said Harry, not trying to sound insulting.

"Twice" corrected Death.

Confused Harry looked at Death who gazed back with a strange sort of smile, "Oh sweet little soul" she said, reaching out to caress his cheek in a strangely affectionate gesture, "I knew you before your own mother for it was I who delivered you to her womb. I am at the beginning and the end of every life, except yours."

The final statement left Harry stunned, "but, why me, I don't understand."

"When you united the three artifacts you did something no one else ever has, and this puts us all in a 'unique' position" she explained.

"Wasn't supposed to happen" Fate griped, "It wasn't supposed to be this way."

"How do you mean?"

"My prophecies of course" she stated angrily, "everything was set out perfectly, everyone who was supposed to know knew, everything was in its place, then *bam* your mother goes and dies and botches the whole thing."

"Wait, you mean I was supposed to die, well why didn't I then?"

"Because nothing is written in stone" said Death, "we can only guide humanity, we can't force people to do anything, they must choose it for themselves."

"So my mother decided my life was more important than her own. "

"And died so that you might live, ultimately changing what Fate had intended to happen with the prophecy you know" said Death.

'The prophecy you know' Harry heard death say and realized, "You said prophecies" he said looking accusingly at Fate, "there was more than one."

Fate was suspiciously silent.

"Oh let me guess, this one was for Dumbledore too, something to the effect of only you can defeat the dark lord and the boy must be abused and sacrificed for the greater good" Harry snarked until he saw how Fate refused to look at him.

"Oh my fucking god" said Harry, "I always thought a lot of things didn't add up but now, it just makes perfect sense."

"Well if you'd just died like you were supposed to" she shot back.

"And that brings us back to now" interrupted Death.

"How so?" asked Harry.

"Because of how you have been twisted up in the schemes of Fate you have been linked to her, likewise by uniting my three tokens you linked to me."

"Okay, with you so far."

"The problem is that no human may be so intimately connected to two of the greater powers at the same time, up till recently Fate just sort of ignored you and refused to acknowledge her link."

"So what changed" he asked, giving Fate a suspicious glance.

"Her latest agent her 'chosen one' failed, abysmally" said Death which earned her a fierce scowl from Fate.

"Stupid humans can't do one simple thing right" she groused.

"So what, she wants to make me her new chosen one?" asked Harry incredulously.

"And I said no" stated Death, "Thus here we are."

"So, you're saying it's my decision, seriously?"

Death nodded while Fate simply scowled.

"Well I definitely don't choose you" he said pointing at a growling Fate, "but at the same time, I can't see any reason I should choose you either" he said looking over at Death.

"Oh" said Death, setting down her coffee cup and sashaying over to him, "are you sure?"

"Yep" he said, trying to ignore her proximity.

"And you're sure there's nothing I could do to change that?" she purred sitting down on his lap, pressing her breasts into his chest and rubbing her nose against his.

"Can't really think of anything" he lied, trying not to show any reaction.

"Really?" she grinned then closed the remaining distance and pressed her lips against his.

For a moment he was lost in the sensation, the taste and touch of her lips, the soft gentle moaning, the press and heat as her body moved against his own, then with agonizing slowness she pulled back.

"Are you sure?"

It took him a moment to understand what she was asking him, "Well," he hedged, "won't be easy."

"Would you say it would be very 'hard'" she crooned, rubbing herself against his 'other wand'.

As she continued to 'convince' him of her position one thought just kept running through his mind.

'I am so going to regret this later'.


	23. 22 Madam

22 Madam

…

It was odd, Harry Potter considered as he walked behind his kidnapper in docile fashion appreciating the fine shape of her bum as she walked, that he never went out with the intent of finding casual sex yet somehow managed to do so with a somewhat disturbing frequency. That of course didn't count things like his run in with Gabrielle Delacour and her friend which had been anything but casual, nor was it like, if he was reading the situation correctly, what was happening to him now.

He'd gone out to a pub he knew that hosted a mix of magical non-magical clientele for supper and set down for a drink or two afterward. He'd spotted the girl watching him right away. She was a petite mousy looking woman that reminded him of a librarian for some reason. He gave her a wink to let her know she'd been caught staring and she promptly turned the same shade as the average tomato.

He'd chuckled a bit to himself and turned away, let the girl save some dignity he'd thought. He was rather surprised then a few minutes later when she sat down on the stool next to him and meekly offered to buy him another beer. Having a perfectly good idea where she intended to take things, or so he'd thought, he accepted. One beer and three shots later she was far less meek and he wasn't even half as drunk as he was pretending to be.

After his encounter with Death and Fate and his blurry memory of the initial encounter he'd decided to make sure it never happened again. The fuzzy memory bit not the picking up two women at the same time bit of course. He'd gone right to work and, counter to his expectations, had come up with a simple powdery tablet after a single weekend which proved powerful enough to neutralize an entire gallon of hard alcohol.

As soon as she'd offered to buy him a drink he'd magicked the tablet he was carrying into his stomach, a minor feat, and proceeded to play act. It was then, come shot number three he was much more observant than she likely intended him to be when she slipped the tiny crystal into his shot glass. He drank it down all the same, feeling the lethargy spread throughout his entire body for a moment before dissipating.

He had no fear of whatever drug she was using actually working on him. His system was by and far the strangest colloidal suspension he'd ever seen. He attributed most of it to the basilisk and the phoenix from the end of his second year and had spent many an evening when he should have been doing his school work examining his blood and the odd inclusions he couldn't find in any text book. He'd seen much, learned little, and come to the conclusion it would have to wait till he had more time.

Of course that didn't stop him from understanding that whatever it all was had made him immune to basically every poison he could find. Even potions didn't always behave how they should which had vexed him on more than one occasion, fortunately, not this one.

"Stand up and follow me" she had whispered in his ear as he pretended to remain under the drugs affect.

Curious to see exactly what she planned he did as told, not the least bit concerned he might actually be harmed if he didn't want to be. She led him from the pub and took him on a long winding walk to a small brick house in what looked to be one of the low rent districts. She strode up the steps and he followed along behind like her loyal terrier.

The inside was much the same as the outside, old, run down, must be some poor wizards home he thought. Following his 'kidnapper' to the back of the house they entered a room which stank of perfume and incense. The floor was covered in thick immaculate rugs and large cushy pillows and all around were peculiar statues of men, many of which were being used as chairs and tables.

It was those that were using them that really told him what was going on. Women, barely dressed, fawning over each other in something out of Arabian nights seemingly oblivious to oddness of the furniture around them.

"Mistress, I have done as you commanded."

Hearing his captor speak he turned his attention to the woman at the center of it all, sitting on a throne that appeared to made of four men, professional contortionists by the look of things, sipping a glass of wine while looking terribly board by her surroundings until she saw him. A wicked smile curved her lips.

"Well done my dear" she said, "he looks like he'll make a fine footstool."

The quip made the other women titter though Harry was not amused and had no problem saying so.

"I think I should take some offense to that" he said, sending the entire room into a tense silence as they all stared disbelieving.

The queen however looked furious, "you brought one of those beasts here without drugging him" she demanded of his kidnapper furiously.

"But I did" she quailed.

"It's true, she did" he agreed, she had after all, "your little poison just wasn't strong enough, that's all."

The mere act of him speaking seemed to fill the woman with fury, "Filthy man 'thing', you dare speak to me?"

"Sure sounds like it" he replied nonchalantly.

She very pointedly turned her nose up at him, "Men should be seen, not heard" she said.

Before he could fully process just what had been said the amulet she wore around her neck lit up and fired a beam directly at him. His entire body was bathed in radiance for a moment and when it had faded where once stood a man of flesh and bone now stood a dark gray statue of stone.

The woman sniffed contemptuously, "stupid filthy beast" she spat.

The mousy librarian looked on terrified as the queen approached the stone man, eyeing him critically while blatantly ignoring her cowering subordinate.

"Hmm, you know, now that I get a good look at 'it', I think it won't make a good footstool" she decided imperiously, thrusting out her hand and catching the sledge hammer that flew into it a moment later.

She raised the hammer and brought it crashing down only to jerk abruptly when the hammer stopped mid swing. She looked in horror at the stone hand holding her weapon.

"Impossible" she hissed.

As if hearing his name the eyes of the man stoned closed flew open revealing two blazing green orbs. Slowly coming to life he pulled his free hand back and with surprising speed threw a vicious strait punch. There was a shattering sound as it connected and the queen went flying across the room and through her throne.

The statue of Harry righted itself, patiently while the queen painfully pulled herself upright.

"You" she pointed weakly, clearly having broken something in her landing, "how dare you."

The statue said nothing, merely grinned, an infuriating gesture to be certain. The queen looked as though she might scream but when she tried she winced in pain. It was then the statue noticed the lights dimming and the other occupants of the room inching towards him menacingly.

"You think you can get away with this" the injured woman hissed, "kill him!" she shouted before doubling over in pain.

The statue watched as the woman were suddenly engulfed in formless shadows which then swiftly took the form of black fiery black wolves. As one the blazing black beasts lunged at him and despite this the statue could only think with absurd calmness, 'Bloody rabid feminists.'


	24. 23 The Growing Distance

23 The Growing Distance

…

Some days you just had to get away, away from the yelling and screaming, away from the whining and crying, away from the constant demanding, and once and a while she needed to get away from her children as well, not just her husband. That was what saw Hermione Weasley walking up to #12 Grimmauld Place that non-descript day of no real significance, the need to get away, away from being Hermione Weasley for a while.

It had been a rather sad realization when she had decided to leave her children with their grandmother and let her husband take care of himself for the day that she had no one and nowhere she could go to get away. She'd had only two close friends in school and she was married to one of them. She hadn't seen nor heard from Harry since the day she'd dropped in on him to find he'd just returned from Atlantis, a claim she still refused to believe.

Still, it was that or go back to Ron, and if she did that she might well throttle the stupid bastard so, Harry it was. She had no idea what he was up to or if he was even there. Of course she'd heard in the paper about how he'd defeated that nasty Arab some time ago but that didn't mean he'd be home now did it.

She walked up to the door, grabbed the knocker and banged three times. It wasn't until she'd released the knocker that she realized it wasn't the same one she remembered. Before she had time to take it in the door opened and she came face to face with a thin gaunt looking man in a butler's suit. She was sure she'd never seen the man before but the look he gave her indicated he did recognize her.

"Mrs. Weasley" he said without enthusiasm, "you are not expected."

"Um, no" she said taken aback, "Uh, is Harry home."

"The master is working in the carriage house" the man droned.

"May I see him?"

The man considered for a moment before grudgingly stepping aside to let her in.

…

"Harry!"

"Well, if it isn't my second favorite Weasley girl" said the aforementioned Harry.

"Second favorite" she feigned offence, "I'm hurt."

"Alas, from the moment I lay eyes on her my heart was hers, dear sweet Antoinette" he declared with a dramatic sigh.

Hermione laughed, "I'm sure her father will be thrilled to hear that."

Harry shrugged, "Meh, he'll just have to learn to deal with it" he said.

Hermione chuckled, already feeling better than she had at the beginning of the day.

"So *bang* what *bang* brings you *bang* out here *bang* this morning *bang*."

It took Hermione a moment to find an answer as she found herself distracted by what he was doing. Not that she was staring at the rippling muscles of his shirtless torso no it was the hammer and anvil she was interested in, really. That and the odd mirrors arranged around it reflecting beams of sunlight onto the anvil which Harry continued to hammer away at for reasons she was unable to discern.

"Well, I just felt like getting away for a day and, well, I really don't have any friends besides you" she blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Really" said Harry not missing a beat of the hammer as he spoke, "I'd have thought you'd be good friends with the auror's given how many times you've had to go get Ron out of a cell for public drunkenness."

"How'd you know about that?"

"Hermione, all of magical Britain probably knows about that" said Harry glancing up momentarily, "I know for a fact it's a running joke at the Leaky Cauldron. They set a timer from the moment he walks in to find out how long it takes for him to get belligerently drunk and thrown out."

Hermione rubbed her forehead, annoyed that her husband's vices were being used for entertainment yet at the same time not the least bit surprised, "Can we not talk about Ron please?"

"As you wish" Harry acquiesced easily and continued with his hammering.

"So what's this you're doing" Hermione asked curiously having as yet figured out why he was hammering an anvil with nothing on it.

"It's kinda hard to explain" he dodged.

"Who do you think you're talking to" she said with a cocky grin.

Harry just shook his head, "you won't find this in any book Hermione" he said, "to my knowledge no wizard has ever attempted to contain photons within designated space, certainly not like this."

"Contain what in space" photo what now she was thinking.

"Light Hermione" he stated, "I'm basically making hardened light."

Putting down his hammer he took a small thin tong and removed a paper thin strip of glowing 'something' from the face of the anvil, a rectangle about six inches long and three inches wide. He examined it briefly before placing it into a cylinder filled with a noxious green liquid which quickly turned a rusty orange as the glowing solid sank into it.

"Let that set for about an hour" he said mostly to himself, just as a chime came from the house, "oh, perfect timing."

Striding purposefully into the house Hermione followed, curious about what she'd just seen but equally curious to see what else her one time best friend was up to.

…

"Oy, where you been all day?" Ron demanded sourly as he threw his cloak across the back of the sofa.

"Went to visit Harry" she replied numbly.

"Oh really, and how is his royal highness" Ron snarked.

"Busy, very busy" she said, to out of it to even notice the snark, "I followed him around all day, he must have a dozen different projects going and he's attending University. I used to think I'd do that."

"Yeah, well, can't do that and take care of the kids kenya?" he remarked with little interest.

She turned to look at him for the first time since he'd walked in felt like crying. She'd had ambitions once. She was going to do great things. Ron's greatest ambition was to be keeper for the worst Quidditch team in the league. Sweet Merlin why did she ever marry him.

Feeling ten times her age she trudged into her bedroom and shut the door. Ron, with a lecherous grin went to follow but found the door sealed from the inside. It would take him several hours to realize his wand was inside the bedroom.


	25. 24 Graduation

24 Graduation

…

"And so, as you go out into the world, we hope that you will remember everything that you have learned in your time here."

'Oh thank god, I thought he'd never finish' thought Harry as he sat with the rest of the graduating class listening to a professor he'd never had waffle on and on and on… but that wasn't important, what was important was that he was finally done. In less than an hour he'd walk away with his degree and he could final put four years of study and planning to work.

His greenhouse had been a small project, a warm up. He'd decided to wait until he had his degree before starting on the manor, start building that is. He'd drawn dozens of blueprints, built hundreds of mock ups with everything from sand and clay to Lego bricks, at least until his godson had got hold of them. But now, finally, after four years of planning he could begin, if this ancient gasbag would just run out of air.

…

"Take care Harry, Woohoo."

Harry waved at his former classmates as they drove off, headed for the nearest pub to properly celebrate 'surviving' their higher education. He'd had to laugh when they told him that. He almost hadn't survived his standard education, his higher education had been comparatively less stressful.

Not due anywhere for at least another hour he decided to take a stroll, and why not, the weather was nice, for London, and he just felt like a bit of wandering.

Traffic was surprisingly slow he thought as he meandered down the sidewalk, soaking in the fading sun and admiring the buildings around him. One thing about studying architecture you started to appreciate it when you saw it. London was an old town that wore its history like an overcoat. There were none of the cookie cutter houses like he'd known on privet drive, each building he passed was different, built in different era's with different materials by different people. It was like taking a walk through history.

Old red bricks stood next to cold gray concrete next to wood or aluminum siding placed over god only knew what. Roofs tilted at various angles from high to flat and gargoyles stood sentinel watching people pass.

'My house needs gargoyles' Harry thought.

He'd studied them of course but never seriously considered making them part of his designs yet something about seeing them sitting up their like tireless ugly guard dogs appealed to Harry. Yes, his house would have gargoyles, and they would be magnificent.

It was at this point he turned down an alley and came to a dead end. You found lots of those after as many reconstructions as London had seen, it would serve his purpose.

"You can stop hiding yourselves, I've known you were following me since you started doing it."

In twin puffs of smoke they appeared, dressed in all black each carried a small sword on their back and a pouch on each hip.

"Ninja's, my favorite type of cannon fodder" he quipped.

His assailants remained silent, each pulling a pair of kunai from their pouches. Each kunai had a slip of paper tied to the end of it and Harry stood motionless as they each hurled one in his direction. He didn't so much as flinch when they sailed past him to embed in the wall behind him. They then took the other two and threw them into the ground at the head of the alley.

One then made several odd gestures with his hands before slamming his palms to the ground. There was a faint glow of energy that surrounded them all like a box which faded from sight a moment later but Harry could still feel it and knew instantly what it was.

"Anti-magic barrier" he said, calmly removing his cap and shucking his gown, "I suppose that means you're better informed than the last bunch that tried this. Not that you'll do any better" he added.

His opponents drew their blades and began to advance.

Harry simply watched them, his entire demeanor relaxed, "Can we hurry this up, I have a dinner date and I'll never hear the end of it if I'm late."

Yep, his house would definitely have gargoyles, gargoyles that would be able to rip clowns like this apart so he wouldn't have to waste time doing it himself. His house was going to be so awesome.


	26. 25 Bungle in the Jungle

25 Bungle in the Jungle

…

He'd heard a lot of people complaining about deforestation and saving the rainforests in the past and not thought much of it. Now he thought back on those times and agreed with the people who said the complainers were idiots who didn't know what they were talking about.

It was wet, and not just plain old wet either it was sopping wet, all the time. All around was green, every possible shade and even a few he wasn't sure should count but he was anyway. It gave you a much different perspective to stand amidst the wood and fern and the constant buzz and hum of a million million insects and think a place really needed to be protected. Frankly he was pretty sure it could take care of itself.

If the insects didn't get you there was also the poisonous toads and frogs, not something he personally had to worry about but he'd pulled several dozen off the shoulders of panicking companions and that was just the ones who weren't actively trying to kill you. There was a long list of things that did not take kindly to interlopers into their territories from the furry to the scaly and more than a few with feathers, the Green was a hazardous place.

Unless of course you were Harry Potter.

This was Harry's first trip to one of the more 'lush' places on earth and he'd been forewarned it would be a long and arduous journey. They were three weeks in and he was still waiting for the arduous bit of the journey to begin. Being immune to poisons of every kind left him completely unperturbed by the venomous things lurking about and more than a little curious to see them when they popped up. The insects had been a minor hurtle he could have overcome in a number of ways but he'd decided to go with a basic repelling ward attached to a small gem in his belt, problem solved.

And as for the various predators that popped up now and again he found them quite amiable once they weren't hungry anymore and had taken to chatting a bit with each one the was willing. It was a strange gift, and it wasn't specific to snakes he'd learned some years back while battling a dark lord who simply called himself the 'Beast Master'. He hadn't really had much call to use it since then but had put it to great use since entering the Green.

It was odd really that while the company he was traveling with seemed mostly concerned with the jungle doing them in, Harry was far more concerned with the company doing him in. Not the whole company of course he was just the cook on the expedition so absolutely invaluable to most of them, no it was the leader of the group, a dignified aging man who had financed the whole thing out of his own pocket.

That of course wasn't terribly suspicious, many of the expeditions he'd been on had been funded in such a fashion. What was suspicious was how stingy he'd been with information, particularly about just where they were headed and what they hoped to find there. Of course most of the company didn't realize this, the man had an eloquence with words and it was only Harry's long experience with such people that helped him to see through the smoke screen of pretty words and get to the meat of what was being said, which was not much.

No one in the company actually knew more about where they were headed than the general direction, they didn't know what it was they hoped to find there, wherever there was, and while there had been much speculation on what they would do after they found it, that too had never been clearly stated. Harry saw all these things and understood what they meant all too well so he had kept a very close eye on their leader throughout the entire trip, of course he'd had some help.

"Harry!"

From the other person who probably wanted him dead.

"Yes Pansy."

It hadn't been easy convincing his lawyer to fill the final spot on the roster and he'd been forced to make petitions to both her greed and her vanity to get her to go along with it. The greed had been easy, agreeing to pay her on top of what she would be paid by the expedition just to come along. Vanity however had been a bit more tricky but ultimately well worth it he mused as his favorite cold blooded reptile sauntered up to him dressed like the original tomb raider, right down to the twin pistols which she did actually know how to use… not terribly well but still.

"I found another snake you don't have" she said sourly holding up a good sized multicolored serpent.

The serpent was coiled in a lunging position and was perfectly petrified, meaning she'd caught it on the fly.

"Nice shot" he said taking it from her and making to store it like the rest.

"I don't understand what you hope to gain from collecting all of these slithery things" she groused.

"Don't forget, it's not just the slithery things I'm collecting, it's the hopping ones two" he said with a cheeky smile.

"Nobody likes a smartass" she scowled.

"Oh come now, I should think you'd have a greater appreciation given your own history, Slytherin, besides, I thought I understood you had a great appreciation for 'my' slithery thing" he quipped with a salacious eyebrow.

She snorted in response, "you can only say that because you know I'm too tired to take you up on it, damned bloody heat" she complained.

"It's not the heat, it's the humidity" he corrected.

"It is bloody uncomfortable is what it is, I don't care how much I'm being paid this was not worth it."

"Not even for the cute outfit" he smiled.

"I could wear this at home" she pointed out, "I don't need to be in the middle of the bloody jungle."

"Now there's a thought" he said with a looking of naughty pondering.

"You keep talking like that and I may just find the energy to 'properly' answer."

Harry deflated, "I'll shut up."

"Good boy" she said with a victorious smirk.

"Is there anyone else in camp?"

"No, the old man went to scout ahead and everyone else is combing the jungle for more of those little stone pillars we found yesterday."

"They won't find any" he said certainly.

"Oh?"

"I already found what was left of it, nothing but bits of rubble covered in moss."

"Well, at least we're headed in the right direction at least" she said, not actually all that concerned with whether or not they found, whatever it was they were looking for.

"Yeah…" he said distractedly.

"What is it?"

"I think I may have figured out what's at the end of this green rainbow" he said.

"Oh, do tell."

"It took me a while to remember where I'd seen those symbols from yesterday before, now I know."

"And!"

"Atlantis" he said which took her aback, "I think what he's trying to find here is one of the old Atlantean colonization sites."

"Well, that would explain why he's been so vague, still think he's going to try and kill us all?"

"Most likely. I don't think he's in this for the sake of discovery, I think he's after the 'boundless treasure' that so often seems to be attached to legends about Atlantis."

"So just another greedy bastard" she sighed, "so much for a complex motivation."

"Well they can't all be interesting" said Harry, "besides, there's always the chance I could be wrong."

"Really?"

"Sure, it's happened."

"Recently?"

"… Well no not recently."

"Uuugh, this was so not worth it, not even for the outfit."

"But you are still going to wear it when we get home right?"


	27. 26 Ruins and Runes

26 Ruins and Runes

…

"I imagine you all must be wondering why I called you here this evening."

"I did" said Rolf.

"I didn't" said Luna.

"Who cares" said Pansy, "I just came for dinner."

Undeterred by the lackluster response, "I have spent the last three months in deep study and I believe I have discovered something truly magnificent."

"Ooooooo" snarked Pansy with a mischievous grin.

"I'll ignore that. After my latest expedition and everything discovered therein I dove into the topic of Runes, something I've had a passing knowledge of for years as they overlap several other branches of magic but this was the first time I made an in depth study of the runes themselves."

"And this is what led to your discovery" Rolf asked politely.

"Indeed so. I started my study with the Atlantean runes, given they don't have a wide group of academics postulating about them I had to do that myself. Next came the Nordic runes which according to legend were first revealed to Odin after he hung himself upside down from the world tree. Then came the Greco Roman system, very logical and orderly and after that I dove into the Egyptian system. It was at this point I began to see something so I decided to expand my search.

"I did an in depth search of the old Chinese pictographic language as well as several others used by the more nomadic eastern groups like the Mongols and the Huns. Most recently I went through a very thorough treatise on the Inca, Mayan, and Aztec Runic languages a friend from America sent me."

"You've been very busy" Luna commented.

"Yes I have" he declared, "However, I believe it is ultimately worth it for I think I have come closer to the written language of magic than anyone in the history of the world."

"Really?"

"Marvelous."

"Oh honestly."

"Scoff not, because it is true" he said taking up a fat scroll then magically pinning one end to a particularly thin patch of air.

His audience grew silent as he walked across the room, opening the scroll. Then, running out of space he turned and kept walking, and again, and again, until he was all the way back where he started from. The three of them gaped, something he found rather amusing on Pansy and something he never thought he'd see on Luna.

"Blimey" whispered Rolf in awe.

"It is something isn't it?" said Harry proudly.

Pansy, shaking off her stupor, "Okay, so you're an artist, but I don't see how this constitutes a runic alphabet."

"Don't think so" Harry continued to grin.

"No, I took runes in school and I don't see a single familiar rune amidst that entire… 'Mess'."

"Of course not, that's because the runes that you're familiar with were all wrong" he said still grinning.

"How's that" Rolf asked curiously while Pansy scowled.

"Well, my current theory goes, each different runic alphabet was merely a fragment of the true language of magic. Each piece was derived from what the first user or user's wanted from it, Odin for example came from a culture of northern warriors which is reflected in their runes. The Greeks were searching for reason and order and the list goes on and on. The cultures determined what piece of the language they would find and after several centuries of use most of them look quite different than they did originally anyway."

"They still work though" countered Pansy.

"I could scribble a barely legible sentence, and I often do, and so long as you could decipher it that would still 'work', wouldn't it, doesn't mean it would work well though" Harry countered her counter.

"So you've tested it?" asked Rolf.

"A bit, not as much as I want and I will do more before I'm done but I was just so excited I had to share" said Harry his constant grin now perfectly understandable.

"Fascinating" marveled Rolf.

"Meh" dismissed Pansy trying not to appear the least bit impressed.

"I'm pregnant" said Luna.

"WHAT!"

"I'm pregnant" she repeated smiling dreamily.

"What, so you two…" Harry gestured vaguely to which Rolf shook his head in descent, "then how…"

"When you came back from your last expedition, remember."

"Yes, but Rolf wasn't here, you said you'd… LUNA!"

"It isn't my fault you're just to 'virile' for your own good" said Luna.

"It's just as well" Rolf agreed, "We still haven't figured out why that spell didn't work the last time. I've been testing it over and over and it works just fine on the test subjects, there must be some other factor we haven't taken into account."

"Yeah, the absurd turns of fortune that identify Harry Potter" said Pansy, her snark back in full force.

"Well I'm very excited regardless" said Luna.

"Indeed" agreed Rolf, "Oh won't Jason be thrilled, he's going to be a big brother."

Harry just hung his head as the married couple began twittering in excitement. Pansy continued to smirk of course which was to be expected. It was disappointing as hell having your good news trumped by someone else, not to mention annoying, and he'd worked so hard on it too.

'Le sigh' thus is the life of Harry James Potter.


	28. 27 Thirteen is almost as bad as seven

27 Thirteen is almost as bad as seven

…

Arithmancers insist there is magical significance in certain numbers, significance and power. Three, the might of trinity, five the points of the star or pentagram, and let us not forget seven, oh seven. According to some seven is by far the most magically significant number, period. However there are those that argue that in some cases there is one other that might be even more significant, thirteen after all does have something of a reputation.

…

"Is it ready?"

"Everything is prepared."

"Are we sure we want to do this?"

"You're sure this will work?"

"It has to."

"Are we really sure this is the only way?"

"It must be this way, for the prophecy to be fulfilled it must be this way."

*silence*

"Now, let us begin."

…

The moment he woke he knew something was wrong. It was a sort of instinct he'd developed over the years. He wasn't in his bed where he distinctly remembered passing out that night, there was no warm soft body which he was fairly sure there should have been, and most damning of all there should not have been seven people staring at him as he lay naked on the cold floor attempting to figure just what the hell was going on this time.

"It worked."

"Haha, never doubted it."

"Of course not Paddy."

"Ay, you callin me a liar Moony."

"Alright both of you behave."

"Proooooooongs, your wife's pickin on me."

"I cannot believe I'm related to you."

"Oy what is this, pick on Sirius day?"

"Since when do we need a day for that?"

"Ladies gentlemen please, we are being rude to our guest."

Harry stared, what else could he do? The last time he had seen the old man in front of him he'd been a ghost, chained in the middle of an arena being forced to drink the most foul concoction Harry himself had ever imbibed. The rest were really no better, he had a hard time accepting what was right before his eyes, of the six other people in the room only one should have still been alive.

"Good evening dear boy, I'm sure you must be a bit confused, my name is…"

"Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore" said Harry catching the old man flat footed with his response.

The old man stuttered a bit and Harry took the opportunity to go around the room and name the ghosts, "Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, James and Lily Potter" and then he came to the only one he thought should be alive, "Andromeda Tonks."

He was a bit surprised by how she shrank at being called 'Tonks', "My husband has passed, my name is Black" she said robotically.

Harry nodded, "My condolences" he'd pursue that topic later.

"You seem to have us at a bit of a disadvantage" said Remus congenially.

"Really?" replied Harry, standing for the first time since waking, "Of the seven of us, I seem to be the only one completely starkers" he pointed out rationally which didn't stop the two women from blushing profusely now that it had been brought up, "now tell me Moony, whose at the disadvantage here."

Remus had the good grace to look bashful at his faux pa while Dumbledore seized on the opportunity, "Why don't we all adjourn to the library while Sirius locates our young friend something to cover himself."

…

"So, do you think it's him?"

"Not what I was expecting."

"Nice arse."

"Andy!"

"Tell me I'm wrong."

"… I can't."

"Lily!"

*snicker*

…

Albus paced anxiously, he didn't like not being in control of a situation and the man they had summoned had promptly stolen control away from him without even trying. He needed to assert his authority, bring things back into his court, and make it clear to this young man who was in charge.

"No I'm totally serious."

"No I'm Sirius."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"Only fools are positive."

"Can't argue with that can you Sirius?"

"Oy."

Dumbledore watched the three men walk into the Black library chatting like old friends.

Now was the time, "My dear boy…"

"Save it" said Harry walking right on past like the old wizard weren't even there.

Sirius snickered while Moony coughed suspiciously. Harry ignored the both of them taking a seat in a plush leather chair. A moment later Kreacher appeared placing a platter of food on the table to its side before disappearing without out a sound.

"I consider it rather rude to be dragged out of a warm bed without so much as a by your leave and then expected to pay attention to whatever it is you want" said Harry twirling his fork over his eggs, "If it's that important, it can wait a few minutes."

Dumbledore looked about ready to pout, not at all used to such disrespect, but Andromeda was not so put off.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but, who are you?"

"You don't know?" he only glanced up briefly from his meal as he said this.

"We think we do" said Remus, "but I think we'd all appreciate if you could confirm it for us."

Harry didn't even have to look around to see everyone staring at him expectantly.

*sigh* "Harry Potter" he grumbled, shoving another fork full of food in his mouth.

"So we did it, you can help us?"

"Help you do what?" Harry asked, uninterested.

"You can stop the dark lord, for good, the prophecy said…" started Dumbledore.

"Yeah well, ya know what I think of your 'prophecy'?" he then made an obscene gesture he felt adequately expressed his feelings on the matter.

"I like him" Sirius said with a snicker as Dumbledore looked aghast.

"You would" said Andromeda shaking her head.

"You would abandon us to the mercy of a madman" accused Lily.

"I never asked to come here" Harry pointed out reasonably, "and I really see no reason why I should get involved in a conflict I already won once before. I do so hate to repeat myself."

"People are dying."

"People are always dying, that's hardly new" Harry countered, "the simple fact is this, you forcibly brought me here and that alone leaves me disincentivized to help you, so, give me a reason, and it better be good."

He ignored Dumbledore as he immediately fell into some speech about honor and duty, he was going to make this as hard for the meddling old man as possible. He'd help, of course he'd help, but he'd ring every possible concession out of them first. They 'needed' him, he didn't need them, and he'd make damn sure they knew it. Harry Potter was nobody's whipping boy, not anymore.


	29. 28 Blood runs thicker than fire

28 Blood runs thicker than fire

…

It was a strange thing, Harry thought, answering your door. If you weren't expecting someone you had no idea who might be on the other side. It could be an old friend, a new friend, a total stranger, the most recent in a long line of assassins out to kill you, the possibilities were just endless.

Harry pondered this as he opened the front door of #12 Grimmauld Place, prepared for whatever was on the other side, or so he thought.

"Hello."

Harry stared at the chirpy blond woman on his doorstep and froze. It wasn't the chirpiness that threw him off or the blonde hair or the startling green eyes, in fact, he wasn't really sure what it was but his instincts were screaming at him not to take his eyes off her.

"Good morning" he replied, "Can I help you?"

"I do rather hope so" she said happily.

To his surprise she invaded his personal space without warning and caressed his neck with her nose.

"Hmmm, have you recently returned from another dimension?" she asked as though she were commenting on the weather.

On the outside Harry showed no sign of surprise but inside he was panicking, but in a calm fashion, "won't you come in?"

"If you insist" she said, almost prancing into the house.

He calmly closed the door behind her and took a deep breath. Inside the house he was considerably safer than outside, a thought he hadn't much reason to think about before since the last time he'd been this off put by someone they'd turned out to be the human avatars of Death and Fate. He was fairly sure this very chipper woman now darting around his entry was not one of those but he'd be more confident in that prognosis if he could figure out what it was about her that was setting him on edge.

"This is a very lovely house you have" she commented as she admired the fern.

"Thank you, it took a lot of work to get it this way from how it was when I inherited it" he said as he watched her like a hawk with a mouse.

"Inherited, so this is a family home?" she thought aloud.

"Of a sort, I actually inherited it from my Godfather who was actually from the same family as my father's mother, the Black's."

"Family is very important" she said, "I'm actually a bit ashamed of what I did to my family, but, that's what we're here to fix."

"Oh?" now that set off a few warning bells, he'd been known to 'fix' things on occasion too.

"Yes, you see when my husband died I felt sort of detached, my children were all grown up and while I dearly loved my grandbabies I still felt adrift without him, so I drifted" she appeared saddened by this, whether the death of her husband or abandoning her family Harry couldn't be sure.

"Forgive me for commenting on a lady's age but, you do look rather well preserved for someone who claims to be a grandmother" he said as politely as he could.

She brightened at this, "That's very sweet" she said.

Deciding to ignore the woman's appearance, "so, you have returned after your, sojourn, and are looking for your family."

"Yes" she said succinctly.

"And what exactly brought you to me?"

"The smell" she replied.

"… beg yur pardon."

"I was actually between worlds when I caught your scent as you were traveling from one to another."

She was obviously referring to the reverse summoning he'd accomplished after he was done dealing with that other Voldemort and his cronies.

"It was vaguely familiar and once I figured out what it was I followed it, and here I am."

Well that was about as clear as mud, thought Harry, "and what exactly was it."

"Me" she said.

Well, I haven't been this confounded in a while, he thought, "you smelled, yourself" he chose to ignore how ridiculous it sounded.

"Well no not me me, exactly, the scent of my blood, my family."

Was she seriously saying what he thought she was saying, "Are you seriously saying what I think you're saying?"

The perky little woman just grinned.

Harry glared, "If this is a joke it isn't very funny" he growled.

"Why would you think I was joking?" she appeared genuinely confused.

Harry reigned in his temper, "well for starters I don't believe there are any blondes in my family."

The woman careless combed a hand through her hair changing it from blonde to black, "It was sunny out, I felt like being a blonde" she said.

"So you're a metamorphmagus" he said, a fact that did not make him any less suspicious of the woman.

Nor did the fact that she started laughing when he said it, "magus… hahahaha, snort, magus, hahahahaha."

"I'm so happy you are entertained" he said sourly.

"Wha… Oh, I'm sorry, it's just, *snicker* magus is kind of a step down really, I mean, *snort**chuckle*" she was clearly having trouble holding it in.

"Sorry, don't follow" and he didn't, what was this crazy little woman on about.

"Hmmm, probably easiest to just show you, how big is your back yard?"

…

"Wow this is crowded" she said.

It was too, there was no denying that. Harry had far too many projects running and most of them had at least one component sitting out in the yard. He really needed to finish some of them.

"One sec" he said then snapped his fingers.

All at once everything started moving, stone tiles rose up while various contraptions and contrivances disappeared underground. It all took less than a minute to empty out the yard so all that remained was the Creeping Tentacula.

"Nice trick" she said admiringly, "but I've got one better."

Confidently she strode into the center of the yard and then exploded. The transformation was so abrupt it seemed like some sort of detonation as the tiny little woman became a massive scaly beast with huge wings and a long thick tail.

Harry stared, he'd had illusions used against him before and he knew right away that this was no illusion. The sudden eruption of power also explained what had put him on edge about her in the first place. Of course the way she now looked down at him was putting him on edge for totally different reasons.

She took a deep breath and Harry tensed in anticipation, "Mmmm, yes, it's much clearer now. Things are so hard to smell when I'm human, such limited senses."

Her voice was booming yet elegant and soft in a strange way, "Who are you?" Harry asked, unsure how to react.

The 'dragon' before him smiled, "My name is Emerald, and I am ever so pleased to meet you my descendant."


	30. 29 Family

29 Family

…

"Fear not little princess, we will save you."

"The evil dragon queen will not have her way this day."

"Foolish mortals, my minions will handle you."

And so the 'great' battle commenced.

"She is rather playful no?" commented Fleur as her children were pulled into the fantastical game.

"Really my mind still boggles at a 'talking' dragon" said Rolf who sat with his first born asleep in his lap, "You're sure the two of you are related?"

Harry nodded, "I ran every kind of magical test I could think of, every one came back true. She is my great grandmother on my mother's side."

"Does that still make your mother first generation magical you think?" Luna pondered aloud.

"If what Emerald has told me is true there is no such thing. Normal humans don't possess the sort of magical core needed to perform magic like we do. Somewhere in the ancestry of every witch and wizard was a sentient magical being whether dragon, troll, or what I believe to be the case with you, fae."

"Are you saying I'm a fairy Harry" she grinned at him, her hands rested on her youngest child, yet to be born.

"Given what I know of them and what I know of you, maybe" he hedged which made her pout adorably.

"You say if what she says is true?" queried Fleur.

"Well she claims to be about one thousand years old which is hardly the birth of magic but she's also been to other worlds, apparently on purpose and not dragged to them like I was" he'd already told them about that misadventure, "and it's not that I don't believe her it's just that I can't prove what she's saying. Something I learned in school, don't go telling people this is how it is unless you have the evidence to back it up."

"So you 'do' think I'm a fairy" declared Luna.

*sigh* "Yes Luna I think you're a fairy" said Harry indulgently which seemed to please the very pregnant woman.

"It actually might explain what we've been observing here over the last few generations though" Rolf thought aloud.

"You mean the diminishing magical ability in the majority of magical born children?"

"That exactly" he said, "it's as though they're breeding the magic right out of themselves."

"Becoming more and more the thing they hate by shunning those that aren't like them, how terribly ironic isn't it?" said Harry.

"You don't sound troubled by this" said Fleur, "if they ever find out who knows what they might do."

"They won't find out" he said certainly, "even in the relatively short time I've had to observe magical society I can tell you that. They'll breed themselves right out of magic before they even realize what's happening and then it'll be too late. The old society will fall, and a new, hopefully better one will take its place."

"Do you really think so?" asked Rolf.

"I do" said Harry, "they are the future" he gestured to the 'mighty warriors' battling the evil dragon queen, "they will know the truth of it, when they are old enough" he amended, "and they will be among the leaders of a whole new world."

"That does sound a bit like wishful thinking Arry" said Fleur with an indulgent smile.

"Every revolution began with a wish Flower, why change a winning strategy?"

…

It was late before they had all returned home or turned in for the night, but Harry didn't mind. In a way they were his family, not just Teddy, or Emerald who had popped out of nowhere. Fleur was in many ways the wise older sister he'd never had and always needed. Rolf and Luna were the crazy out of town cousins he'd always dreamed of having, especially when his real cousin or the out of town relative were around.

Family was more than just your blood, he'd realized, Family was like home, where the heart was.

He was always sad to see them go, but tonight it was just as well, he had things to do. He entered the room to find Emerald waiting. Three rings at the center of the floor blazed with power as the inscribing between them faintly glowed, waiting to be activated.

"Are you ready?" she asked.

"As ready as I ever will" he said stripping out of his cloths and walking into the center of the ring.

"It's quite amazing these new runes, in all my travels I've never seen the like, you should be proud."

"If they work" he replied.

He'd spent the last three nights charging the rings with magic. What he was about to attempt had never been tried so far as either he or Emerald knew. Neither knew how it would work, if it would work, basically he was casting in the dark. Business as usual for Harry Potter.

"Let's get started."

The outer circle spiked and began feeding energy into the runes. Harry felt it immediately, like electricity running across his skin. It hurt, but not on a level he hadn't dealt with before, he bore it.

Fifteen minutes and the outer most circle was finished, the preparations had completed. The second circle began to feed and suddenly he felt the need to invent a new word for pain, just so he could accurately describe what he was feeling. It was worse than even Voldemort's best torture curse as his entire body went taut, every muscle screaming in agony preventing him from making a single sound.

Somehow he remained conscious and upright through the entire process, falling to his knees and panting to catch his breath once it was finished. Then the final circle activated and the script beneath his feet activated. The world blurred.

Emerald, outside of it all watch in fascination. She'd seen many a great magic's done in her time but this was something entirely new, it was marvelous. His entire body seemed to become molten silver as it stretched and twisted into all new shapes. A pair of black ivory horns shot from the back of his head followed by a spiky black mane. His tail slid out like mercury before being tipped in thick black quills. Finally the membrane of his wings darkened to black and his claws and talons turned the color of coal.

Slowly his body solidified, smooth skin became scaly, bones turned harder than steel, his eyes opened, his nostrils flared, it was finished.

"You are magnificent" she said.

He said nothing, not for lack of ability nor lack of anything to say but because he was busy taking himself in. He'd altered his form many times before but this was different, felt different, felt right. He stretched his wings, too wide for the tiny room and had but a single thought in his mind.

"I can fly."


	31. 30 More than you can possibly imagine

30 More than you can possibly imagine

…

The platform was covered in smoke, the sound of the train echoed in the darkness. From the cloud people came, people he knew, people he didn't know, and there he was. And then there he was, walking among them, talking in words he wasn't saying. Ron and Hermione were there, he gave a knowing look to Draco Malfoy, Teddy and Vicky kissing, well, at least that last one made sense. But there seemed no explanation for the detestable red head standing next to him or the unfamiliar children surrounding them.

It was all so mundane, so normal, so wrong. He hadn't seen Ginny Weasley in years and was glad of it, Ron and Hermione hadn't been seen together in public since Ron had slapped Hermione and she in retaliation had turned him into a newt and given him to his brother. They hadn't been civil with each other since.

It was wrong, he knew it was wrong, he knew it wasn't real but it just kept going. An auror, he was an auror, Ron was an auror, the absurdity of it all. He'd made fun of the incompetence of auror's for years and without him there to motivate the lazy bastard Ron had washed out of training in less than a year.

Albus Severus, he'd named a child Albus Severus, it was utter madness. He couldn't keep watching, he knew it had to be a dream, he wanted to wake up, wake up, WAKE UP!

…

He woke shaking and violently threw himself from his bed. The cold of the floor helped clear his head and his breathing slowly normalized. What absurdity, what grotesque, what the hell had he just seen? It seemed a dream yet it remained in his mind with startling clarity, why?

He was nursing his second cup of tea an hour later in the kitchen when Emerald wandered in. It had been almost two years since her arrival and he had grown accustomed to her presence, obnoxiously playful as it often was. She was however incredibly insightful and at times annoyingly observant, especially when he was trying to hide something.

"Your dreams are troubled" she said, it wasn't a question.

He barely grunted in the affirmative, he didn't really want to talk about it. Not that it would really matter if she wanted to talk about it.

"I guess that makes two" she said.

He looked up at her only to see his godson standing behind her looking anxious.

"Pre Hogwarts jitters Teddy bear" Harry teased his godson who gave him a look of disgust.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that" he complained.

"I'll stop doing it when you stop whining about it" he said conjuring two more cups and pouring the tea.

"I do not whine, I gripe" he said, taking the offered cup.

"Of course, that's much more manly" agreed Harry.

Teddy pretended to ignore Emerald snickering and sipped his tea, "yeah, well."

"So, what's got you out of bed at this time, I know Vicky's not here" said Harry with a grin which had Teddy cringing, "she isn't is she?"

Teddy shook his head, reaching into his pocket he removed a small box and placed it on the table. Harry looked at the box then at his godson.

"Going to ask her before she beats you to it" Harry quipped.

"Well, that's the idea I guess" he said without enthusiasm.

"You aren't seriously having second thoughts are you" Harry found it hard to believe.

"No, nothing like that" said Teddy, "it's just, I had a dream, I asked her and she said no, she laughed and then everyone I knew was there and they were all laughing too."

"I think I can safely say this was nothing but a bad dream little one" said Emerald, "If that girl could be any more in love with you she would have glued your hands together."

Here Teddy snickered, "she did try that once."

"I remember that" said Harry, "It didn't work but it sure was cute."

"Oh shut up Uncle Harry."

Once the chuckling died away Emerald turned to her descendant, "and what has you so troubled as to be out of your bed little flame."

Harry's expression turned neutral. Little flame was her favored nickname for him ever since he'd awakened the dragon blood in him, a term of endearment. Now though it seemed to lack the sense of comfort he usually felt when she used it, so troubled was he by what he'd seen.

Slowly, quietly, he told them of his 'dream', the unfamiliar people wearing familiar faces, the him that wasn't him, the all-encompassing feeling of wrongness, and the frightening clarity with which he could still see all of it.

"So even in your dreams we're together" said Teddy, finding the one bright ray amidst it all.

Harry just snorted, the hint of a grin playing at his lips.

"You do to believe this to be merely a dream?" said Emerald, her tone lacking the playfulness he'd been expecting.

"No" he said simply.

"I believe you are correct" she said.

"Then what was it Emerald? It was like a world that could have been if… well, if I'd been an idiot after I killed Voldemort" he said.

"You have been thinking about this, about how the you in this vision would have come to be there" at his nod she continued, "And so it is, I believe, another you."

For a moment Harry looked confused, then it was like the light came on and he understood, "It was another me."

"I don't get it" said Teddy, not on board 'their' train of thought.

"Harry has told you of the time he was drawn into a world where there was no Harry Potter, yes?"

Teddy nodded.

"So, it stands to reason that if such a parallel world could exist where I was already dead, why not others where I'm not" said Harry.

"So, the Harry in your dreams was just another Harry in another world…"

"Who took a different path somewhere that led him to the point that I observed."

"That would be my assumption" said Emerald.

"But, why did he see it, why now" asked Teddy.

"Who knows" said Emerald with a shrug, "these sorts of things seldom make sense right away."

"Ain't that just the truth" agreed Harry, "though I kinda have to feel sorry for the guy, married to Ginny Weasley of all people. If she's anything like the Ginny in this world I can only imagine how miserable his home life must be."

"Did you hear about her last 'big breakup'?" asked Teddy.

"Who hasn't?" replied Harry.

And so conversation drifted to less serious topics. As for dreams and visions and the fears that came with them, they were forgotten for later, which is after all the perfect time to be concerned with such things.

The End?


	32. 31 The next great adventure

31 the next great adventure

…

K, the elf formerly known as Kreacher, stared at the calendar. It was THAT day. The elf sighed. His master was bombarded with all manner of absurdity on THAT day, every year. Some people mark special occasions to remember and celebrate, his master marked THAT day so he knew to batten down the hatches in a futile effort to dodge whatever it was would be coming for him that year.

The elf sighed again. His master had been busy this year and had not been checking his calendar. THAT day had snuck up on them yet again and it was his duty to inform his master. Oh the trials of the faithful elf.

K found his master in his potion laboratory handing off a small bag to a snooty looking owl.

"There you are Pierre, that goes straight to Fleur, and no chasing tail on the way either" he scolded the owl who pretended it hadn't the slightest idea what the crazy wizard was referring to before taking off.

"Master" the elf announced his presence.

"Ah K, good morning" the great sorcerer greeted.

"Your tea master."

"Oh, thank you K" he said, "lost track of time this morning."

The elf cringed, "Tis not just this morning master."

"Hmm."

"It is, THAT day."

The wizard look at the elf for a moment before his brow rose and he nearly choked on his tea, "THAT day, already. Damn it."

"Yes master" 'damn it indeed' the elf agreed.

"You think if we pretend it isn't THAT day it might pass us by?"

The elf gave his master a look telling him exactly what he thought of 'that' idea.

"Yeah I didn't think so either" the man admitted, "maybe…"

*DING**DONG*

The two both looked toward the front door.

"Shall I answer?" asked the elf.

*sigh* "No point in putting it off" the cursed man said.

With a snap of his fingers the elf vanished and a distinguished older looking man appeared at the door. His disguise firmly in place K opened the door to reveal the newest trouble to befall his master.

She was tall, smartly dressed in a dark pink business suit of the non-magical variety. Her hair was a dark green and long, reaching down just past her waist. Her eyes were odd, garnet in color and far older than such a young looking woman should merit.

"May I help you?" he asked in his traditional deadpan.

"Not unless you're Harry Potter" she said, her accent unfamiliar to him.

"He isn't" the elf stood aside, "but I am" said the infamous Brit, "what can I do for you miss?"

The woman smiled, an enigmatic smile. There was no doubt in Harry's mind, trouble had come calling, and his next great adventure was about to begin.


	33. post word

Post word

…

Well, this has been a very long November. Thanks for all those who followed along. As you may have ascertained, this is not the end for this particular Harry Potter. I have every intention of coming back to this one at a later date and continuing his story but less as a selection of snap shots and more of a feature length film.

Although I do plan on filling in certain gaps in this story I didn't have time to write this month though that will be a sporadic collection of drabbles at best.

However this is all in the future. The next fic I plan to have up will be a Harry Potter Monster Hunter crossover fic. That was going to be the November challenge but as I started writing it, (a little before November I confess) I realized there was no way I would be able to put them out to the quality I wanted with so little time.

So, look forward to more adventures and I'll see you there.

Jade-fae is out, peace!


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